Perstorp Board Recommends Industri Kapital Bid

30 April 2001 00:00  [Source: ICB Americas]

Perstorp's board last week formally recommended acceptance of a new takeover bid by Industri Kapital, the equity fund management company, reviving long- term plans for the formation of a Nordic specialty chemicals group.

Industri Kapital, which has made the bid through a subsidiary Sydsvenska Kemi, withdrew an acquisition offer for Perstorp last September because of financial difficulties at its Pergo laminated flooring business.

The offer has been renewed after Perstorp decided to spin off Pergo. Sydsvenska Kemi has provisionally agreed to buy 14 percent of Pergo's shares.

The new offer values Perstorp at around SKr 8 billion ($785 million). After taking into account the Pergo spin-off, this is around 15 percent lower than last year's abortive bid.

But analysts consider it reasonable because of a recent decline in the stock market. Perstorp last year had sales of SKr 9.2 billion and operating income of SKr 411 million.

The bid has already been accepted by large shareholders in the company with 65 percent of the capital and 75 percent of the voting rights. The offer is conditional on the acceptance by owners of 90 percent of the total number of shares.

The takeover also has to be approved by the European Commission, which launched an in-depth investigation into the original bid last year. It is understood that the Commission was close to approving the acquisition before Industri Kapital pulled out of the deal.

The acquisition will bring Perstorp under the same ownership as Dynea, the combination of Neste Chemicals and the chemical activities of Dyno, both of which Industri Kapital took over during the last two years.

Industri Kapital plans initially to merge Perstorp with Neste Oxo, the oxo alcohols business with sales of SKr 2 billion, which was excluded from the creation of Dynea.

The merger would create a group with sales of around SKr 8 billion, although these may be decreased by combining Perstorp's thermoset resins activities with Dynea.

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