Wrapup 2: Milan bourse to bid farewell to Tod's, Saras after buyout offers
12/02/2024 14:12
(Adds value of Milan bourse, comparison with Paris, Amsterdam
bourse, other recent delistings in paragraph 3-4)
By Elisa Anzolin and Cristina Carlevaro
MILAN, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Shares in Italian luxury
shoemaker Tod's TOD.MI jumped on Monday and those of oil
refiner Saras SRS.MI fell after the two received buyout offers
over the weekend, with both preparing to join peers that have
left the Milan bourse.
The dwindling capitalisation of Italy's stock exchange and a
steady flow of firms relocating abroad has become a hot topic in
Italy, with listing professionals and large foreign investors
criticising planned government measures to stem the trend.
With a market value of 762 billion euros at the end of last
year, the Milan bourse represents one fifth of Paris's stock
exchange, or half of Amsterdam's.
Since 2022, Borsa Italiana, which is owned by French group
Euronext ENXT.PA , has seen the delisting of truck maker CNH,
airport caterer Autogrill, and both Exor and Atlantia, the
holding companies of Italy's Agnelli and Benetton families,
respectively.
Shares in Tod's rose 18% after private equity firm L
Catterton offered to buy 36% of the group in agreement with the
Della Valle founding family to take it private.
By contrast, shares in Saras fell 4% to trade below the 1.75
euros a share offered by commodity trader Vitol to acquire the
Moratti family's stake in the oil refiner and buy out other
investors to delist it.
Saras' main asset is the 300,000 barrel-per-day Sarroch
refinery in Sardinia, the biggest plant in the Mediterranean,
whose location has grown in importance in light of the Red Sea
route disruption.
"Saras's business is highly complementary to Vitol's core
operations, and this transaction will strengthen European energy
security and enhance supply for a key European energy asset,”
Vitol CEO Russell Hardy said in a statement.
Unlike the Morattis, the Della Valle brothers will retain
control of Tod's with a 54% stake, while they will tender
another 10.45% stake.
LVMH, backer of L Catterton and a longstanding Tod's
shareholder, will also keep its 10% stake.
L Catterton will own the remainder of Tod's if the offer,
which values Tod's just over 1.4 billion euros, is successful.
L Catterton has said that if its 43 euro-a-share bid fails
to meet the necessary threshold, it will still delist Tod's by
merging it into the offer vehicle.
A previous attempt in 2022 by the Della Valles to take Tod's
private and manage its diverse brands separately fell through,
but analysts said this time the prospect of the delisting was
credible.
In addition to the eponymous brand, famous for its Gommino
loafers, Tod's also owns the Roger Vivier shoe brand and the Fay
and Hogan labels.
Citi analysts said shareholders may think that the bid
price, which is only 7.5% above the failed 2022 offer price,
does not fully reflect the ongoing turnaround of the Tod's brand
and undervalues Roger Vivier.
However, broker Equita said the alliance between majority
and minority shareholders in Tod's lent credibility to the
threat that investors who snub the bid will end up with stock in
an unlisted group. ($1 = 0.9285 euros)
(Additional reporting by Giulia Segreti; Writing by Valentina
Za; Editing by Jan Harvey)
((Giulia.Segreti@tr.com; +39.06.80307714;))