takeover Archives - Page 7 of 16 - Tyrepress

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Ruia Group Substitute Candidate for Ssangyong Takeover

The bid for struggling South Korean 4×4 specialist Ssangyong submitted by Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has been given the green light. Should an arrangement between Mahindra and Ssangyong’s creditors fail to be finalised, however, the Ruia Group – parent company of Dunlop India and Falcon Tyres – is reportedly next in line. A total of six parties, including Renault-Nissan, expressed interest in acquiring the debt laden Ssangyong, the smallest of South Korea’s five car makers.

13th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Confirms Real Estate Spin Off

The board of Pirelli & C. has confirmed what the market has been predicting for some time – the company has “resolved upon a plan for separation of Pirelli Real Estate” from the rest of the tyre dominated business. According to the company, such a separation will occur through the assignment of nearly all Pirelli RE shares held by Pirelli & C. to ordinary and savings shareholders of Pirelli & C., and, therefore, via voluntary reduction of the corporate capital of Pirelli & C. for “an amount equal to the value of the Pirelli RE stake being assigned.” Now shareholders have to approve the transaction by July in order for the actual separation, planned for the end of 2010, to take place.

6th May 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Group Aiming to Help Save Donington Race Track with Rally

A rally is to take place at Donington Race Track on Sunday 7 March, 2010 in an attempt to secure the Castle Donington facility’s future. The Facebook group behind the rally, set up by schoolteacher and racing fan Lee Coombs, has nearly 12,000 members, meaning the rally has a good chance of a high attendance – the latest estimate being 10,000 attendees, according to Derby’s Evening Telegraph. The event will be attended by the current owner Kevin Wheatcroft, who is said to be in talks with several potential investors keen to restart racing at the venue. Wheatcroft will attend the event, a source told Tyrepress.com, at which he is expected to make an announcement about Donnington’s future.

4th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Restructuring Deal Hits Snag: Reports

The Korea Times has reported (on 19 January, 2010) that creditor-led restructuring of the cash-strapped Kumho Asiana Group has started off badly. Reports say that disputes are growing between the group, creditors and other stakeholders over how to resolve major issues surrounding debts from Kumho’s takeover of Daewoo Engineering & Construction in 2006. Separately, the debt workout programs of Kumho Industrial and Kumho Tire have hit rocky ground as founding family members and creditors are in disagreement over how to restructure the group. Creditors insist Kumho Petrochemical, the group's de facto holding firm, and Kumho Asiana Airlines should be subject to the debt repayment plan.

19th January 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental to Launch 1 billion euro Share Offer in January

Continental AG will reportedly run its long-expected 1 billion euro share offer in January. Sources told the Reuters news agency that "preparations are almost done," with the prospectus to be discussed “at a board meeting in mid-December." According to the reports, the capital increase will be less than the maximum 54 million shares agreed by shareholders, as Schaeffler fears the dilution of its 90 per cent stake, the sources said. Reuters reported that Schaeffler wants to keep its Continental stake to at least 75.1 per cent. This will apparently give Schaeffler direct access to Conti's earnings after 2012, subject to the two companies’ acquisition agreement, which was signed following the initial takeover move in 2008.

18th November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Plimsoll: 45 UK Companies Will Finish 2009 in Difficulties

At the end of a turbulent 2009 analysts of Plimsoll are predicting 45 UK tyre manufacturers and distributors will be struggling to see 2010 out: “Having clung on through the bad times many of these struggling companies are going to run out of time and fail just before the recovery really takes hold. Sadly, some of them are just too weak to carry on and there will be a spike of failures in the New Year. On the flipside, their demise will bring a welcome reduction in competitive pressure for those left”.

Pattison is convinced the market is due a prolonged period of consolidation with the number of companies in trouble leading to heightened takeover activity. He explains: “With too many companies chasing weakened demand it is inevitable that there are likely to be a number of high profile mergers and takeovers. In all honesty it’s long overdue. Once demand started to flag it was inevitable companies would be caught out. This period of consolidation is needed to sort out the dead wood. We have named 21 companies as the best acquisition prospects in the market”.

3rd November 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Government Aid to Secure Vauxhall Jobs

The UK automotive industry gained a boost on October 13 when Lord Mandelson’s persuaded Vauxhall’s new owner to back down on redundancy plans that could have cost 5,000 workers their jobs. Magna International made a commitment to the long-term future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port and Luton plants in exchange for concessions including a two-year salary freeze. Mandelson will now commence final talks with the German Government over how much Britain will contribute to the £4.1 billion state loan the Germans have committed to back the Canadian company’s takeover of General Motors Europe.

14th October 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Schaeffler Accused of Blocking Continental Merger

Continental AG chief executive, Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann, has reportedly written to the Schaeffler Group’s family owners alleging Schaeffler has tried to block the two companies’ merger with “incorrect assumptions about the company’s value and a reluctance to agree to key points.” According to the Financial Times, the letter alleged that Schaeffler’s banks had “communicated an unrealistic value of 12 billion euros (£10.325 billion; $17 billion) for the automotive supplier.

FT reports that Dr Neumann is now “heading for a showdown with Schaeffler at [the] supervisory board meeting next week, when he will push for a decision on several key points as a basis for a merger of the companies.” The financial newspaper described a proposal document Dr Neumann has presented to supervisory board members ahead of the meeting. In it he demands that the combined group strive toward an investment grade rating as quickly as possible: “From 2010, the group should have a maximum net debt of three times operating profit (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) and equity ratio of 25 per cent, the document says.”

23rd July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Reports: Continental Considers 1 billion euro Capital Increase

Continental AG is reportedly considering a 1 billion euro (£865 million; $1.4 billion) capital increase. According to an article published in the Financial Times, Conti CEO Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann is to make the proposal at a supervisory board meeting next week scheduled in advance of the company’s combination solution announcement, expected at the end of July. Neumann’s suggested capital raising is being described as “an alternative to a merger with Schaeffler,” FT said.

According to the newspaper recent plans for Continental to regain control of the merger through a reverse takeover of its 90 per cent shareholder have been “torpedoed” by Schaeffler Group. Schaeffler is reportedly negotiating with its backs to delay loan payments for two years. Under current terms it would have had begin repaying a first 500 million euro debt tranche in January 2010. Meanwhile, Continental is said to need a “quick merger or a capital increase” owing to the fact that it has 800 million euros in debt maturing in August and a further 3.5 billion euros maturing in 2010.

21st July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti to Receive Kuwaiti Investment?

According to an article that appeared German business newspaper WirtschaftsWoche on July 18, Continental AG may soon be the recipient of Kuwaiti investment. The paper reported that investors from the Persian Gulf State entered into talks with Continental Executive Board chairman Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann several days earlier. This meeting followed one the investors conducted with Christian Wulff, the premier of the state of Lower Saxony, where Continental is headquartered.

20th July 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Reports: Lenders Set to Oppose Continental/Schaeffler Combination

Banks responsible for as much as half of Continental AG’s 11 billion euros ($15.5 billion) of debt are reportedly going to oppose the company’s proposed combination with 90 per cent shareholder Schaeffler Group. Citing “people familiar with the situation,” Bloomberg reported that the banks are concerned about the levels of debt necessary for the two companies to re-merge. According to the report, the banks are trying to half the move by blocking changes to a loan agreement first reached in 2007. The two companies have combined debts of around 24 billion euros.

Neither Continental, Schaeffler nor the banks involved have yet commented. However, for all the banks fears and apparent threats to de-rail what is expected to become a reverse takeover, with less than 100 days before the German general election, government support for the move (and the thousands of jobs that depend on it) have the potential to make the re-merger work. Continental executives are expected to officially reveal their plans at the end of July.

24th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Reports: Michelin to Sell Apollo Stake

Indian news sources are reporting that Michelin is intending to sell the remaining 7.3 per cent shareholding it has in Apollo tyres. On June 6 2009, Michelin sold a portion of its Apollo stake for approximately 500 million rupees (£6.67 million). The French manufacturer, which held an 11 per cent share in Apollo at the time, sold 3.3 per cent through open market sales. The company has held shares in Apollo Tyres since it acquired a 14.9 per cent stake in early 2004, a deal made at a time when a truck and bus radial joint venture between the two companies seemed likely.

Despite the venture’s failure to get off the ground and the September 2005 announcement that Michelin would acquire Apollo’s share in the joint venture, Michelin maintained its stake in the Indian company. According to reports, the French tyre manufacturer has made “a reasonable profit” from the sale of its Apollo shares. The reports follows Apollo’s takeover of Dutch tyre maker Vredestein Banden for a reported 175 million euros in May.

18th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Wennemer Set to Become Opel Advisor

Former Continental AG CEO, Manfred Wennemer, is set to represent Berlin on an advisory board overseeing the trust that administers Opel, according to a Reuters report. Wennemer, who led Continental’s rearguard action against Schaeffler Group’s July 2008 hostile takeover, stepped down last August after seven years with the company when the automotive supplier managed to overcome Conti’s defences. He was subsequently nominated to join the board of steel wire manufacturer Bekaert in March 2009. According to Reuters, the trust holds 65 per cent of Opel shares and is charged with ensuring that 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in bridge financing offered by Berlin and the four German states with Opel plants is not misappropriated.

16th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Stock Falls 2.4%

Continental AG share fell 2.4 per cent today after a Reuters report suggested Conti’s banks oppose a the reverse takeover plan of current owner Schaeffler discussed in the press. According to the news, the biggest problem for the banks is the “significant increase in debt and therefore higher risks” for lending banks. Meanwhile Financial Times Deutschland reported that Continental’s banks are planning to set up a steering committee to represent their interests.

28th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Are We Witnessing a Conti/Schaeffler U-turn?

Inside sources recently told reporters that Schaeffler Group is considering unravelling its hostile takeover of Continental AG – offering itself up for reverse takeover by Conti. The automotive parts takeover-predator now finds itself pushed into the role of prey as it struggles to manage debts of 11 billion euros. As a result of the potential corporate role reversal, Continental could find itself well and truly back in the driving seat – but will the company be able to execute this move and at the same time exercise some poetic justice?

There is no question that Schaeffler desperately needs to save money. In the first quarter of 2009, the company’s Automotive division recorded a downturn of 33 per cent compared to the previous year, which is now said to have “stabilized” at 25 per cent below last year, while its Industrial division is down around 40 per cent. However, lost sales don’t just mean reduced income. With output not expected to return to 2008 levels for another four years, the company has announced that it has to cut German labour costs by 250 million euros (the equivalent of 4500 jobs). Schaeffler has already cut 5,000 jobs in other countries, but redundancies at home make the automotive supplier very unpopular with the only people who are now realistically likely to help – the state and federal governments.

27th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors