French firm makes reduced offer for British engineer Invensys
French firm Schneider has made an offer for British engineer Invensys, an announcement that was speculated about yesterday. The formal offer will be paid in cash and shares if accepted.
At 502p per share, that offer is lower than what the firm originally suggested, 505p. That's probably because no other bidder came forward, despite speculation that firms such as ABB and Siemens might be interested.
Commenting on the offer, Sir Nigel Rudd, chairman of Invensys, said:
Combined with the disposal of Invensys Rail and return of £625 million to shareholders, this represents a very attractive outcome for Invensys Shareholders. Furthermore, the members of the Invensys Pension Scheme will benefit from the ongoing support of a significantly larger, leading, global automation business.
Mr Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chairman of the board and CEO of Schneider Electric, said:
We are delighted to announce the combination of Invensys and Schneider Electric in what is an exciting day for the stakeholders of both companies. The addition of Invensys' businesses will considerably strengthen Schneider Electric's overall offering to its industrial and infrastructure customer base, reinforcing us as a global leader in energy management solutions integrating power and automation, as well as leading software for customer efficiency.
The transaction will allow Schneider Electric to benefit from increased scale and realise substantial synergy benefits from the combination. We believe our offer is compelling to Invensys Shareholders who will realise significant value for their holdings while having the opportunity to participate in the future strengths of the combined business.