UK-based aerospace and defence technology firm Cobham has announced a renewed takeover offer for Thrane & Thrane, the Danish satellite communications equipment manufacturer, for £270m (US$427m).
Cobham’s new cash offer of DKr230 (US$40.5) per share…
UK-based aerospace and defence technology firm Cobham has announced a renewed takeover offer for Thrane & Thrane, the Danish satellite communications equipment manufacturer, for £270m (US$427m).
Cobham’s new cash offer of DKr230 (US$40.5) per share is the same price it had offered back in February, but subsequently withdrew after the bid was rejected by Thrane’s board.
Since then, Cobham said a number of institutional investors had expressed interest in selling their shareholdings in Thrane, and it has now amassed a 25.6% stake in the Danish firm.
Cobham’s launch on 10 April of a voluntary public tender offer process to acquire the rest of the shares is being made with the view of combining the satcom businesses of both companies.
The offer price represents an acquisition multiple of 14.8x Thrane’s EBIT for the year to 31 January 2012. It represents a premium of 43% to the closing price of Thrane’s shares on 24 February 2012, the last day of trading before Thrane originally announced that it had received a takeover offer.
Thrane’s decision in mid-March to reject Cobham’s original takeover attempt led to the resignation of the Danish firm’s chairman, Waldemar Schmidt, who stepped down citing a disagreement with the majority of his board over the company’s future. Schmidt was later replaced by Morten Eldrup-Jørgensen, who has been a board member since September 2000.
Following the rejection of Cobham’s initial takeover offer, Thrane said it would continue to carry out a strategic review being conducted by FIH Partners. The adviser was mandated in February after Thrane was originally approached by Cobham, and has a deadline of 14 May to reach a conclusion.
A spokesman for Thrane said its strategic review was ongoing in spite of Cobham’s renewed cash offer.
Before Cobham acquired its 25.6% stake in Thrane, the takeover target had only two shareholders that held stakes of more than 5%: Lars Thrane, who co-founded the group in 1981 with his brother Per Thrane, and Jupiter Asset Management, which owned 10.8%. In Cobham’s 10 April announcement, the company said it had acquired shares held by institutional investors including Jupiter Asset Management.
Announcing its renewed takeover offer, Cobham stated: “Cobham continues to seek to work with the Board of Thrane & Thrane to achieve a recommendation for this offer and to facilitate the bringing together of Thrane & Thrane and Cobham’s satcom business in a way that provides the best future for the business, its employees and customers.”
Thrane, which develops land earth stations for various Inmarsat services, manufactures equipment and systems for global mobile communication based on satellite and radio technologies. It has around 600 employees across Denmark, Sweden, Norway, China, Singapore and the US.
The company posted DKr1.093bn (US$193m) in revenue on an operating profit of DKr194m (US$35m) for the year to 30 April 2011.
