An all-cash offer has been unveiled by SAF-Holland to add Haldex to its commercial vehicle arm
Global parts giant SAF-Holland has made an all-cash offer for Swedish commercial vehicle parts producer Haldex worth 4.2 billion crowns (SEK, A$650 million).
In a move which SAF-Holland says will “create a new integrated champion for chassis-related commercial vehicle components” and help it reach its €1.5 billion (A$2.2 billion) sales goal by 2020, the SEK94.42 per Haldex share offer will be on the table from August.
Valued at 26.8 per cent above the Haldex share price’s three-month average and 10.8 per cent above the share price as of Wednesday, the offer would see the commercial vehicle brake and air suspension systems supplier expand SAF-Holland’s product and knowledge portfolios.
With fingers in truck, bus, trailer, and axle production across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Haldex would also open the door for SAF-Holland to expand into Latin American and Asian markets.
“The proposed combination of SAF-Holland and Haldex has a compelling strategic rationale and clearly delivers on our ‘Strategy 2020’,” SAF-Holland CEO Detlef Borghardt says.
“Together, we would form a one-stop shopping solution provider for a wide range of components, from Electronic Braking System modules installed together with brakes to axles systems combined with suspensions.
“In addition, the transaction would significantly strengthen the aftermarket position of the combined group and allow both companies to jointly establish a clear front-runner position in the high-margin, low-cyclical aftermarket business.”
SAF-Holland says the funds are already available for the deal but it would need to own 90 per cent of the outstanding shares in Haldex.
The company also expects a positive earnings influence in the first year.
Haldex has issued a statement in relation to the takeover offer, confirming the company’s board will evaluate the offer and announce its opinion “no later than two weeks prior to the expiry of the acceptance period.”
It has also mentioned the presence of a third party which has put forward a non-binding proposal for all shares in Haldex.
However, the board says there “can be no certainty that any such offer will be made, nor as to the terms of any such offer.”
The SAF-Holland deal has an August 24 expiry date.