Aperam announces the termination of the Share Purchase Agreement with Lindsay Goldberg to acquire VDM Metals following object...
21 Diciembre 2018 - 12:00AM
Aperam announces the termination of the Share Purchase Agreement
with Lindsay Goldberg to acquire VDM Metals following objections by
the European Commission
Luxembourg, 21 December 2018 (07:00 CET)
- Aperam today confirms the termination of the Share
Purchase Agreement with Falcon Metals and Lindsay Goldberg Vogel to
acquire VDM Metals Holding GmbH (“VDM Metals”) as previously
announced on April 11 2018.
Despite spending considerable time and effort on
explaining the specific nature of the speciality alloys market as
well as the benefits of creating a strong European player able to
compete in a truly global market, the European Commission upheld
its concerns about the impact of the proposed merger with the
creation of a European Alloys Champion. As it was not possible to
agree on a value accretive outcome of the transaction, in the
interest of their stakeholders, Aperam and Falcon Metals and
Lindsay Goldberg therefore decided to withdraw from the in depth
Phase II investigation launched by the European Commission on
November 29, 2018.
Mr. Timoteo Di Maulo, Chief Executive Officer of
Aperam, commented:
“The European stainless and speciality alloy
steel industry is an essential player in the EU in terms of
employment and services to its customers, is competitive and
setting benchmark technical and environmental standards thanks to
its strong R&D efforts. Today, the European industry is put
under tremendous pressure from global competition, in particular
from Asia where giant plants are built with often unfair subsidies,
and the USA, where these industries and markets are highly
protected. The Speciality Alloy Division is addressing the same
global markets, in an environment where enlarged product offering,
scale and R&D capabilities are essential to compete.
Facing conceptual roadblocks with the creation
of a European Alloys champion, not recognizing the existence of
global markets for speciality alloys products, is highly
regrettable, and has lead us to the conviction that addressing
these concerns of the European Commission would make a value
accretive deal impossible. In the interest of our shareholders we
pursue our strategy and financial policy, hence are left with no
choice but to withdraw from the deal.
Looking forward we will continue to rely on our
solid balance sheet and self-help measures to withstand an
extremely challenging market environment while continuing to look
for any value accretive opportunities.”
About Aperam
Aperam is a global player in stainless,
electrical and specialty steel, with customers in over 40
countries. The business is organized in three primary operating
segments: Stainless & Electrical Steel, Services &
Solutions and Alloys & Specialties.
Aperam has 2.5 million tonnes of flat Stainless
and Electrical steel capacity in Brazil and Europe and is a leader
in high value specialty products. Aperam has a highly integrated
distribution, processing and services network and a unique
capability to produce stainless and specialty from low cost biomass
(charcoal). Its industrial network is spread in six production
facilities located in Brazil, Belgium and France.
In 2017, Aperam had sales of EUR 4.5 billion and
shipments of 1.94 million tonnes.
For further information, please refer to our
website at www.aperam.com
Contact
Corporate Communications / Laurent Beauloye: +352 27 36 27
103Investor Relations / Thorsten Zimmermann: +352 27 36 67
304