Italian regulator approves Hitachi’s mandatory bid for Ansaldo STS

December 7 (SeeNews) – Italian market watchdog Consob has cleared Hitachi’s (TYO:6501) mandatory takeover offer for Italian railway signalling equipment maker Ansaldo STS (BIT:STS) priced at EUR 9.50 (USD 10.32) per share, the Japanese conglomerate said on Saturday.

Elaborating on the offer’s details in a statement, Hitachi said it was bidding for nearly 120 million Ansaldo STS shares, corresponding to 59.93% of the company’s capital. The total payment in the bid would come in at EUR 1.139 billion in case all shares are tendered, Hitachi said.

The offer will run from January 4 to February 5, 2016. If needed, the tender might be reopened for five more days between February 15 and 19.

Hitachi completed last month the acquisition of a 40% stake in Ansaldo STS from aerospace and defence group Finmeccanica in a deal worth as much as EUR 761 million. The move entailed a mandatory takeover offer for the remainder at the same price, which was contested by some of Ansaldo STS’s minority shareholders. Three independent board members of the company were also cited by Italian media as saying the EUR-9.50 per share price was unfair and suggesting a value of between EUR 10 and EUR 11 apiece.

At end-November Mergermarket quoted Hitachi as saying it would sweeten its bid only in case Consob so required.

(EUR 1= USD 1.087)

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