Capgemini Increases Its Tender Offer for Altran by 3.6%
Capgemini modestly increased its tender offer for Altran by 3.6%, from €14.0 to €14.5 per share.
The change comes as a surprise: Capgemini has reiterated many times it would not change its offer, despite the intense communications activity by ADAM and Elliott, which reportedly sought a price of €18.0 per share.
Also, Altran’s share was trading at €14.05 the day before the announcement, very close to Capgemini’s €14.0 initial offer. We think the market had accepted that Capgemini would not raise its offer and believed Capgemini would be successful in reaching its 50.1% Altran share objective.
Finally, Capgemini had indicated it made regular checks with investors and saw many investors accepting this offer.
We think Capgemini’s move is a strategic move to secure additional Altran’s shares at a modest premium, nine days before the end of the tender offer.
What Comes Next?
Capgemini has indicated two scenarios:
- If the tender offer succeeds (on Jan 22), Capgemini will not file for a new offer at a higher price for at least 18 months
- If it fails, Capgemini will remain an 11.43% shareholder of Altran and not file for a new offer for at least 18 months.
Whatever its success, the tender offer still is dependent on the decision by the Paris Court of Appeal, which is meeting on February 6. If the Court decides Capgemini’s offer is not valid, Capgemini has indicated it would file again, still at the same price of €14.5 per Altran share.
ERDservices.org still thinks that Capgemini will be successful in reaching the majority of Altran’s shares, but that the company will not be able to proceed to squeeze out. Altran will, therefore, be a listed subsidiary of Capgemini for 18 months.