Osram Takeover
ams withdraws from talks with Osram
A new offer for a possible takeover of Osram was only on the table for a few hours, then the Austrian interested party withdrew.
The prospects of a possible bidding battle for one of the best-known German industrial companies and better conditions were short-lived. Only few hours after a noncommittal offer to the lighting manufacturer Osram got into distress the comparatively small Austrian semiconductor company ams from Premstetten withdrew again.
According to an evaluation, the group sees »no sufficient basis« for a continuation of the talks, according to a statement by ams in the night to Tuesday.
With its offer, ams would have outdone the two US financial investors Bain Capital and Carlyle with an offer of 3,7 billion euros financed on pump - that would have been 300 million euros more than the Americans had previously offered. ams had submitted a »non-binding expression of interest«, as Osram announced on Monday evening. Investors were pleased, but not the Osram executives: the »probability of a transaction« was »very low«, they said. In post-market trading, however, the Osram share gained strongly to over 35 euros.
On the contrary, Osram's Executive Board and Supervisory Board endorsed the binding US offer of 35 euros per share, which ams had outperformed with 38,50 euros. However, a »temporary bank loan« in the amount of EUR 4,2 billion was to be used for this purpose. Osram CEO Olaf Berlien and his colleagues made no secret of their scepticism: the announcement referred to »considerable doubts about the financial viability«.
ams is listed on the Swiss stock exchange and is currently worth around 3,1 billion euros; its turnover in 2018 was 1,4 billion euros – not even half of Osram's turnover in the past financial year. The Styrian semiconductor manufacturer had already speculated last week about an interest in the company.
Osram is up for sale because the group has found itself in very difficult waters over the past year and a half. This year, sales could fall by 11 to 14 percent. The company now mainly produces LEDs and optoelectronics, its most important customers being car manufacturers and smartphone manufacturers. Since business is poor in both sectors, the lighting manufacturer has been hit hard. In addition, Osram had invested a lot of money in increasing production capacity just before the onset of the downturn.
The US financial institutions are planning to take Osram off the stock market. Shareholders should have until the beginning of September to accept or reject the offer.
