MONTRÉAL (BRAIN) — Cerberus Capital Management is backing a group of family shareholders to take Dorel Industries private. Dorel is the owner of Cannondale, Schwinn, GT, Mongoose, Caloi and IronHorse.
Under an agreement announced Monday, Dorel would be taken private by a buyer group led by affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management and Martin Schwartz, Jeffrey Schwartz, Alan Schwartz and Jeff Segel. The group has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire all of Dorel’s outstanding Class A Multiple Voting Shares and Class B Subordinate Voting Shares not currently held by the family shareholders and their immediate families at a price of C$14.50 ($10.94) per share. Dorel has granted the group exclusivity through Nov.10 to complete negotiations and enter into a definitive transaction agreement between Dorel and the Buyer Group.
The family shareholders are Martin Schwartz, Dorel’s President and Chief Executive Officer; Jeffrey Schwartz, Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer; Alan Schwartz, Executive Vice-President, Operations; and Jeff Segel, Executive Vice-President, Sales and Marketing.
The family shareholders currently own or control approximately 19.18% of Dorel’s outstanding shares on an economic basis and 60.17% on a voting basis.
In a letter to customers Monday, Martin Schwartz said, "As a private company our shares will no longer be publicly traded on the stock exchange. We will have the liberty to pursue new opportunities faster, free from constant market scrutiny."
