Alfa Laval makes $701 mln cash bid for Munters-UPDATE 1
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Tuesday September 07, 2010 12:46:06 AM GMT
* Alfa Laval offers 68 SEK per Munters share
* Major stakeholders with 29.6 percent of shares accept bid
* Bid a 36 percent premium vs share price over past 3 mos
(Adds detail, background)
STOCKHOLM, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Swedish engineering group Alfa Laval on Monday offered to buy smaller domestic peer Munters for 5.03 billion crowns ($701.2 million) in cash to add climate control technology to its product range. Alfa Laval, a maker of fluid-handling equipment, pumps and heat-transfer products, said it was offering 68 crowns per Munters share, compared with the 52.5 crowns closing price on Friday.
"The acquisition of Munters will complement our selection of products," Alfa Laval Chief Executive Lars Renstrom said.
"Munters is a company with strong positions that we can further develop through Alfa Laval's industrial structure and strong presence in the fast-growing markets of South America, Eastern Europe and, not the least, Asia." Alfa Laval said AB Industrivarden and Investment AB Latour, which together own 29.6 percent of Munters shares, had agreed to accept the offer under certain conditions. The company said the bid, to be financed using funds held by Alfa Laval as well as existing and new credit facilities, represented a premium of about 36 percent over Munters' volume-weighted share price over the past three months.
Demand for the products of engineering firms such as Alfa Laval nose-dived as the global financial crisis struck in 2008, sending economies across the world into recession.
But a recovery, led by a upturn in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America, has over the past year lifted orders and sales at manufacturers strongly, though activity in mature markets on both sides of the Atlantic has remained slower. ($1=7.173 Swedish Crown) (Reporting by Niklas Pollard; Editing by Erica Billingham)
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