Private equity firm Veritas Capital is set to acquire US satcoms components maker Anaren for around US$381m in cash.
The US$28 per share offer is a 12.4% premium over the closing price of the company’s shares on 1 November, the last day of trading…
Private equity firm Veritas Capital is set to acquire US satcoms components maker Anaren for around US$381m in cash.
The US$28 per share offer is a 12.4% premium over the closing price of the company’s shares on 1 November, the last day of trading prior to the announcement.
It trumps a US$23 per share offer put forward and rejected by Anaren earlier this year from another PE firm called Vintage Capital, which is also the target’s largest shareholder with a stake of around 13%.
Larry Sala, Anaren’s CEO, said: “We are very excited by the prospect of working with Veritas Capital, leveraging their expertise and financial resources to continue to grow Anaren’s business while providing our customers with state-of-the-art technology, high quality products and best-in-class customer service that they have come to expect from Anaren.”
The deal is subject to approval from regulators and Anaren’s shareholders. It also comes with a US$11m termination fee.
Vintage submitted its failed bid to buy the group in April, just a week after another shareholder, PE firm Discovery Group with a 6% stake, criticised Anaren’s board for not engaging with the “multiple parties” it said were interested in acquiring it.
At the time, Discovery managing partner Michael Murphy said a sale to a strategic buyer could achieve a value in the US$26-US$30 per share range.
Anaren launched a strategic review after dismissing Vintage’s offer, with an independent committee financially advised by Moelis & Company and Houlihan Lokey. Dorsey & Whitney and Bond, Schoeneck & King are its legal advisers.
Based in New York, Anaren provides integrated microwave component assemblies and subsystems for the satcoms, wireless communications, and defence electronics markets. Its products are sold to space companies including Boeing Satellite, ITT, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.
