HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (BRAIN) — A consortium planning to acquire Accell Group and take it private has said it will move forward with the offer despite not reaching a threshold of 80% of shares committed to the buyout.
Accell Group said the company and the consortium, which is led by the global investment firm KKR, have agreed to waive the threshold.
The company announced June 3 that 73.53% of its shares had been tendered or committed to accept a buyout at 58 euros ($61.02) per share. Since then, another 4.26% of the shares have been committed, bringing it to 77.8%.
The consortium still plans to try to acquire 100% of the shares. On June 16, the consortium will buy the committed shares at 58 euros per share. In a “Post Acceptance Period” from June 10-23, it will offer to buy any remaining shares at the same price, which it said will be the “best and final price payable under the offer.”
The consortium said it is confident it will reach the 80% threshold in the Post Acceptance Period.
Accell and the consortium agreed to seek delisting the company from the Amsterdam stock exchange once the consortium acquires 95% of the shares. It said the delisting may devalue or reduce the liquidity of any remaining shares that have not been tendered.
Accell Group's brands include Haibike, Winora, Ghost, Batavus, Koga, Lapierre, Raleigh, Sparta, Babboe and Carqon. Its P&A brand is XLC. Accell Group employs about 3,100 people across 15 countries.
KKR has investments in dozens of companies around the world in several sectors. It invested in Zwift, the online cycling game, in 2020, and was among the groups that looked at buying Canyon Bicycles in 2020. KKR also is a previous investor in Lyft.
