GERMANY: KB Holding GmbH announced an offer to acquire the entire stock of Vossloh AG on January 20. It currently holds 29·99% of the shares, and German law requires a takeover offer to be made once a stake reaches 30%. KB Holding said it intends to offer a price based on the weighted average share price over the last three months, which it expects to be between €48 and €49. This is significantly below the Vossloh share price of €56·90 on January 20.
Vossloh’s executive board said it would ‘examine the bid immediately after publication and then issue a reasoned statement on the subject.’
KB Holding shareholder and Managing Director Heinz Hermann Thiele is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Vossloh AG, and also a shareholder in Knorr-Bremse. He said he supported the restructuring strategy announced by the Vossloh executive board in December, which includes the sale of the rolling stock division.
‘As an entrepreneurial investor, I will support the challenging two-stage, longer-term process of transformation that lies ahead of the company’, said Thiele. ‘With the takeover offer, I wish to moderately expand and protect my investment in Vossloh AG. At the same time, I want to keep Vossloh as an autonomous, listed, independent company with a sizable free float.’
