25th Apr 2016 16:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - French retailer Groupe Fnac SA on Monday said it acquired more shares in UK-listed electronics retailer Darty PLC and tabled a final offer for the company following the bidding war which broke out last week.
Earlier on Monday, Fnac said it had acquired another 48.7 million Darty shares for 170.00 pence per share, taking its total holding in the company to around 16.5%.
Shortly after this, Fnac revealed it had bought further shares in Darty, taking its total holding up to 17.7%, before later in the afternoon revealing another purchase which took its stake to around 18.3%. It then announced a further purchase taking its stake to 18.9%.
The French group also made a third and final offer to acquire Darty at 170.00p per share, with a partial share alternative of one Fnac share for every 25 Darty shares held, valuing the company at GBP914 million.
Fnac added that it now either holds or has received irrevocable undertakings to accept the third offer in respect of a total of 217.4 million Darty shares, representing 41.1% of Darty's issued share capital.
The final offer from Group Fnac comes after Darty was the subject of a rapid bidding battle last week involving rival bidder Steinhoff International Holdings NV, the South African furniture and household goods company.
The last bid Steinhoff made was of 160.00p per share in cash. Steinhoff said in a statement later on Tuesday it was considering its position after the new Groupe Fnac bid. Steinhoff is making the offer through Conforama, the French homewares chain it owns.
Later on Monday, Fnac reiterated the rationale for the potential merger, saying it believes it would result in "compelling financial benefits" to the combined group, including pretax synergies of at least EUR130 million a year.
If the merger goes ahead, Fnac expects it to complete by no later than September, with 5% of the synergies to be realised in 2016, rising to at least 50% in 2017, 90% in 2018 and 100% thereafter.
The one-off costs to deliver these savings would total around EUR105 million to EUR110 million.
Fnac added that it has entered into a senior facilities agreement comprising both a revolving credit facility and a bridge term loan facility in order to secure the financing for the acquisition. The terms of the agreement will allow both Fnac and Darty to refinance their respective existing indebtedness, while providing ongoing working capital for the combined group post acquisition.
Darty shares were up 4.9% to 171.00 pence on Monday afternoon.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Update By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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