TEESSIDE SCAFFOLDER
Well-known member
Green light for Siteserv buyout By Geoff Percival
Friday, April 06, 2012
Irish construction services group Siteserv has gained overwhelming shareholder approval for its sale to one of Denis O’Brien’s investment firms.
Just under 99.9% of Siteserv’s shareholder base voted in favour of the deal yesterday.
The O’Brien-headed Millington acquisition vehicle will buy the firm for around €45m, once final approval is granted by the Irish Competition Authority.
Debt-laden Siteserv agreed a deal with Mr O’Brien’s company last month, after a shortlist of 12 interested parties was whittled down.
However, French group Altrad has recently entered the fray, claiming it was effectively ignored during the process, even though it was prepared to bid €60m for the group.
Yesterday’s EGM was enlivened by the appearance of one of Altrad’s senior management team, Ray Neilson who said his company was effectively offering to double shareholder value and give more money back to the Irish taxpayer.
Siteserv’s management stressed to shareholders that despite Altrad’s claims of being interested since last September, a formal bid was only made last Tuesday, well after an agreement with Millington had been reached and on the same day that proxy votes were being assembled from some shareholders.
They also stated that it would be highly doubtful that the initial offer would remain so high, following due diligence work (noting that some initial offers had been that high before being reduced), although Mr Neilson later said Altrad might have ended up paying "well in excess of €60m" for the company.
In another twist, Siteserv is now set to approach Britain’s Office of Fair Trading asking for an investigation into Altrad’s recent acquisition of Generation Hire & Sales, which is a direct competitor to Siteserv’s British-based scaffolding firm, Deborah Services.
Read more: Green light for Siteserv buyout | Irish Examiner
Friday, April 06, 2012
Irish construction services group Siteserv has gained overwhelming shareholder approval for its sale to one of Denis O’Brien’s investment firms.
Just under 99.9% of Siteserv’s shareholder base voted in favour of the deal yesterday.
The O’Brien-headed Millington acquisition vehicle will buy the firm for around €45m, once final approval is granted by the Irish Competition Authority.
Debt-laden Siteserv agreed a deal with Mr O’Brien’s company last month, after a shortlist of 12 interested parties was whittled down.
However, French group Altrad has recently entered the fray, claiming it was effectively ignored during the process, even though it was prepared to bid €60m for the group.
Yesterday’s EGM was enlivened by the appearance of one of Altrad’s senior management team, Ray Neilson who said his company was effectively offering to double shareholder value and give more money back to the Irish taxpayer.
Siteserv’s management stressed to shareholders that despite Altrad’s claims of being interested since last September, a formal bid was only made last Tuesday, well after an agreement with Millington had been reached and on the same day that proxy votes were being assembled from some shareholders.
They also stated that it would be highly doubtful that the initial offer would remain so high, following due diligence work (noting that some initial offers had been that high before being reduced), although Mr Neilson later said Altrad might have ended up paying "well in excess of €60m" for the company.
In another twist, Siteserv is now set to approach Britain’s Office of Fair Trading asking for an investigation into Altrad’s recent acquisition of Generation Hire & Sales, which is a direct competitor to Siteserv’s British-based scaffolding firm, Deborah Services.
Read more: Green light for Siteserv buyout | Irish Examiner