Uponor surges on potential offer while 'tough' talks may follow
17/04/2023 11:44
** Shares in Uponor UPONOR.HE rise 43% after Aliaxis
announced a non-binding intention to make a cash offer worth
1.82 billion euros ($2.00 billion) for the Finnish plumbing and
heating systems maker
** The indicative offer price of 25 euros per Uponor share
represents a 44.6% premium compared to Uponor's closing price on
Friday
** Belgian water management solutions group Aliaxis, which
holds a stake of just over 5.0% in Uponor, says it initially
approached the Finnish rival in relation to a potential offer
last year but that negotiations were "inconclusive"
** Uponor says it has made no decisions in respect of a
potential offer
** The company's largest shareholder Oras Invest, which
holds a nearly 26% stake in Uponor as per its website, intends
not to accept Aliaxis' potential offer, saying it "does not
reflect the full value potential of Uponor"
** OP Financial Group analyst Juho Saarinen sees "tough"
negotiations ahead, particularly following Oras' rejection of
the potential offer
** "Of course Uponor's board have now more pressure for the
negotiations when the potential offer is public, but when we
take into account the negotiation history and comments from
largest shareholder, it will be challenging for this offer to go
through," Saarinen says
** Uponor shares are on track for their best day ever
($1 = 0.9113 euros)
(Reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn)
((Greta.RosenFondahn@thomsonreuters.com))