The Franconian supplier Schaeffler almost made a mistake during the financial crisis by taking over Conti. Now he wants to take over another part of the former Conti empire with Vitesco.
A turning point at the Franconian automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler: The family company wants to incorporate the Regensburg drive specialist Vitesco and form a large supplier empire with electromobility as one of the focuses. “A company will be created that has a turnover of 25 billion euros, 120,000 employees and 100 plants,” Schaeffler CEO and Vitesco supervisory board member Klaus Rosenfeld told the German Press Agency on Monday. “There were always turning points at Schaeffler, the takeover of FAG, Conti, the IPO – this transaction belongs to this series.”
Schaeffler is offering Vitesco shareholders 91 euros per share in cash in order to ultimately merge the companies, as the Herzogenaurach-based company announced on Monday. The offer is only aimed at the free float. The Schaeffler family already holds almost 50 percent of the Vitesco shares. The Bloomberg news agency had previously reported on the Schaefflers’ corresponding plans – there had been speculation about this for a long time. The Vitesco share price, which was still around 75 euros at the end of last week, rose sharply before the trading session.
The price of the Vitesco share, which was recently listed in the MDax, had already increased by almost 40 percent this year. The Regensburg company was valued at just over three billion euros. Schaeffler’s offer now values Vitesco at around 3.6 billion euros. The SDax-listed company Schaeffler says it has arranged an extensive financing package that includes bridge financing for the acquisition offer.
Cost savings of 600 million euros
It was said that Schaeffler and Vitesco had a matching technology portfolio, particularly in the area of e-mobility. Schaeffler boss Rosenfeld wants to take advantage of the growth opportunities in this area. Vitesco, once integrated into the Conti Group as a drive division and operating as Continental Powertrain until 2019 after the spin-off, currently does the lion’s share of business with combustion engine components – but has recently primarily collected orders for the electric drive division.
The merger of the companies is expected to bring annual cost savings of 600 million euros before interest and taxes. These are to be realized by 2029. Vitesco was only spun off from its former parent company Continental in 2021. The Schaeffler family has owned around 46 percent of Conti since an unsuccessful takeover attempt during the 2008 financial crisis.
In connection with the proposed merger, Schaeffler also wants to convert its preferred shares into ordinary shares with voting rights at a ratio of one to one. The shareholders still have to decide on this. So far, the family has held all of the rolling bearing manufacturer’s shares; three-quarters of the non-voting assets are in free float. “The Schaeffler family is taking a big step. To achieve this, they will have a stake of around 70 percent in the new company,” said Rosenfeld.
Source: Stern
