In the end, the shares of the competitor Recticel will be sold more expensively than they were bought in May 2021. That is the positive side of the takeover battle that the Greiner Group waged for eight months. The bottom line, however, is that the Kremsmünster plastics group has failed for the time being with its plan to become one of the biggest players in the world.
At the weekend, Greiner announced that it had reached an agreement with the Belgian investment fund Baltisse on the acquisition of a 22.6 percent stake in Recticel. Nothing was announced about the purchase price, but as a guideline one can probably see the EUR 17.50 at which the shares were listed on the Euronext in Brussels on Friday evening. The purchase price in May was EUR 13.50.
For Greiner, the 22.6 percent levy is just an intermediate step. CEO Axel Kühner is quoted in a broadcast as saying that the proceeds will be invested in growth projects. The goal of becoming the leading provider of foam and plastic solutions in Europe and worldwide is still being pursued. It can be assumed that the remaining 4.4 percent will be sold in the next few weeks. Whether to Baltisse or a financial investor is open. The aim is that the takeover does not trigger a mandatory offer. For Greiner, the Recticel chapter is closed for the foreseeable future.
There was a long common history with the Belgian foam producer: In 1992, the Austrian and Belgian foam specialists founded a joint venture. In 2020 Greiner took over the second half – not entirely voluntarily at the time. This is because the Irish competitor Kingspan wanted to acquire two divisions of Recticel at the time. However, Greiner had a right of first refusal. In the end, the Irish failed. Even then, the management of the Belgian company Recticel successfully defended itself against takeover plans – as it is doing now.
In October, the Recticel management described the Greiner offer as too low and not strategically sensible.
Eventually, Recticel found a so-called “White Knight” in the US company Carpenter, who bought its foam division.
The package was therefore less valuable for Greiner, that was the beginning of the end of the acquisition plans. (sib)
The chronology
- May 2021: Greiner surprises with the announcement that he wants to take over Recticel (market value 844 million euros). The Kremsmünster company had 27 percent of the shares in their pockets at the time.
- October 2021: Recticel defends itself against the takeover and pulls a buyer out of a hat for Greiner’s most attractive division.
- November 2021: The EU Commission is critical of the purchase for fear of market dominance and wants to “examine it in depth”.
- December 2021: Contrary to Greiner’s expectations, there is a go at the general meeting for the sale of the contested divisions to the US competitor.
- January 2022: Greiner announces that he will put his Recticel shares on the market.
Source: Nachrichten
