UPDATED: French Appeal Court Rejects Request for Suspending Capgemini’s Offer for Altran
The Paris Court of Appeals rejected this morning ADAM’s request for suspension of the Capgemini tender offer for Altran’s shares.
The decision of the Court means that the offer of Capgemini can continue. The French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) is expected in the next few days to provide a date for the closure of Capgemini’s tender offer, which has been running since mid-October.
UPDATED: the AMF just announced the end date of the tender offer would be January 22. This leaves another month for Capgemini to convince shareholders to bring their shares. We think Capgemini is very likely to gain control over Altran.
The Paris Court of Appeals may still decide, however, my mid-March 2020, to cancel Capgemini’s offer. However, this not seems unlikely. Also, Capgemini, in the event it wins 50.1% of shares of Altran, will soon gain management control over Altran, while waiting for the Court’s decision in March.
ADAM, a self-proclaimed organization defending minority shareholders, has filed the appeal, in coordination with hedge funds Elliott, with the intent of raising Capgemini’s offer. Last week, rumors had emerged that Elliott was trying to find an agreement at €18 per Altran share with Capgemini. However, the price that Eliott sought was far higher than Capgemini’s €14 per share, and the deal seemed unlikely.