Components manufacturer TT Electronics has accused its top investor of having a ‘different agenda’ after it refused to back the group’s acquisition by a Swiss rival.
London-listed TT Electronics on Thursday agreed to a £287million takeover by Swiss rival Cicor after snubbing an approach led by Nat Rothschild last year.
But the deal, which marks the latest foreign takeover of a UK company, is being resisted by investment firm’s biggest shareholder DBay Advisors.
DBay, which holds a 16.5 per cent stake in TT Electronics, said it was ‘happy with the progress the business is making’ and would not back the deal.
And on Friday TT Electronics said Dbay was not acting in the interest of other shareholders, noting it has previously made three ‘highly conditional unsolicited’ takeover offers of its own in the last three months.
The largest of these offers was an all-cash bid of 130p per share – well short of the 155p cash-and-shares offer accepted by TT.
Takeover: UK-listed components manufacturer TT Electronics has agreed to a £287m buyout by Swiss rival Cicor
TT said: ‘Each of these proposals was unanimously rejected by the TT Board after careful consideration together with TT’s financial advisers Gleacher Shacklock and Rothschild & Co.
‘The proposals received from Dbay were each subject to a number of assumptions and conditions, including undertaking due diligence which Dbay expected to take eight to ten weeks, and securing financing.
‘Against this background, the Board of TT believes that Dbay may in some respects have a different agenda to other TT shareholders.
‘The Board of TT remains focused on delivering maximum value for all shareholders and believes the Cicor Offer is the best route to achieving this objective.’
This is Money has contacted Dbay Advisors for comment.
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