HEERENVEEN, the Netherlands (BRAIN) — Accell Group said it will not continue talks with Pon Holdings about Pon's takeover offer, which was made April 11. Accell informed Pon at the end of trading Monday that it was ending the talks.
Accell said that although Pon on April 29 had increased its offer by 1 euro per share to 33 euros per share, the offer was still too low and in the view of Accell's executive board did not recognize the growth that Accell expects to make independently.
Hielke Sybesma, Accell's interim chairman of the executive board, said, "Having studied every important aspect of the offer, the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board have come to the joint conclusion that Pon Holdings' offer does not sufficiently reflect the future value creation of Accell Group and the expected synergies. It has also become clear that the offer lacks sufficient support from shareholders. The reference we used for our assessment of the proposal was the roll-out of our refined strategy and the value this will enable us to create, as well as the interests of all stakeholders. Based on this we will currently discontinue the talks with Pon Holdings."
The company also said shareholders did not support the takeover.
In a statement Tuesday, Pon said it was surprised by Accell's decision.
"This announcement by Accell has surprised Pon Holdings, especially given the fact that for more than a month and a half intensive talks with Accell have taken place, which included the start of the due diligence," Pon stated.
Pon noted that its increased offer represented a 55 percent premium over the three- and six-month average closing price for Accell shares.
