By Joshua Kirby
Industrial supplier Georg Fischer said Monday that it has made an all-share offer to buy Finnish peer Uponor for 2.1 billion euros ($2.3 billion,) as it looks to boost its water- and flow-solutions business.
Georg Fischer, based in Switzerland and also known as GF, is offering EUR28.85 for each Uponor share, a bid that it says has been approved by Uponor’s board and accepted by its largest shareholder, Oras Invest.
Uponor would be integrated into GF’s piping-systems unit, and would help increase group sales to some EUR5.4 billion a year, according to GF’s estimates.
The move comes after a bid earlier this year for Uponor from Belgium’s Aliaxis, at EUR25 a share, was rejected by the company as too low.
GF’s offer will be funded by existing cash and credit facilities, as well as an equity raise via placement of 8 million shares, the company said. The offer period should begin at the end of the month and run to September, but could be extended, GF said.
Write to Joshua Kirby at [email protected]; @joshualeokirby
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