The Swedish food processing equipment giant earlier this month tabled an offer of €540m (5bn Kroner) for Munters – which specialises in climate control machinery for the food and energy sectors.
On Friday, Munters’ board of directors responded to the offer, saying was “not unfair”. It further noted that the price per share offered by Alfa represented a “significant premium of approximately 36 per cent” compared to its average share price on the Stockholm stock exchange over the past three months. The board also forecast that should the acquisition go through there would not be major employee redundancies or factory closures in the short term.
Global growth
Alfa said it had noted opinion of the Munters board and said it believed the takeover would prompt Munters’ growth in a host of emerging markets across the globe.
”Alfa Laval and Munters are two innovative Swedish companies that complement each other well”, said Lars Renström, company president and CEO. “The acquisition of Munters will add to our product portfolio and provide us with increased application knowledge in air and climate solutions. We can further develop Munters through Alfa Laval’s industrial structure and strong presence in the fast-growing markets of South America, Eastern Europe and, not the least, Asia.”
The company later issued an offer document to Munters’ shareholders. The acceptance period for the offer is scheduled to run up to and including October 8, 2010 – with October 15 as the expected date.
Munters’ two largest shareholders, AB Industrivärden and Investment AB Latour – which hold about 29.6 percent of the company’s shares – have already conditionally agreed to the offer, Alfa Laval said.