Saint-Gobain May Reap $450 Million Even If Sika Deal Unravels
(Bloomberg) — Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA, which is trying to purchase Swiss adhesives maker Sika AG, may gain as much as 400 million euros ($450 million) in a hedging profit even if the deal falls apart, according to analysts.
The French company hedged its 2.75 billion-franc ($3 billion) offer from December in euros before the Swiss National Bank then last month abandoned the cap on its currency. The ensuing strengthening of the franc increased the value of the hedge and Saint-Gobain could gain between 300 million euros and 400 million euros, depending on the tax rate, said Helvea Baader analyst Patrick Appenzeller.
Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Martin Huesler said that based on the exchange rate on Feb. 4, Saint-Gobain would gain as much as 400 million francs if the transaction doesn’t go through.
Saint-Gobain is facing resistance from Sika’s management and minority investors to the planned purchase of a 16 percent stake with majority voting rights from the Swiss company’s founding family. They say that the transaction would hand the family an 80 percent premium for their stake and disrupt Sika’s business.
The company confirmed on Jan. 15 that it hedged the deal in euros. It hasn’t disclosed the exact terms of the transaction.
Saint-Gobain has no intention of walking away, having signed a binding accord and is still convinced the combination makes sense, said Andreas Bantel, a spokesperson for Saint Gobain. “Those estimates may be crowd-pleasing but have nothing to do with reality,” he said, responding to the analyst estimates.
Sika’s management last month tried to block the majority- voting powers that the founding family is selling. Sika’s attempt to block the deal is illegal and the decision lies with the courts now, said Andreas Durisch, a spokesperson for the family’s holding company.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jan-Henrik Förster in Zurich at jforster20@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Thiel at sthiel1@bloomberg.net Andrew Noel
