U-Blox could go to American hands. Advent International, via its subsidiary Zi Zenith, wants to buy the entire Zurich company at the price of 135 francs per action in cash, the two groups said in a statement published on the night of Sunday to Monday. The offer represents a premium of 53% on the average course of the last six months of the specialist in location technologies.
The U-Blox board of directors recommends accepting the offer. The most important shareholder of the company, SEO Master Fund, which has a 9%participation, has already undertaken to make all the actions in its possession available. A success of the operation therefore appears to be likely. “A counter-offer cannot be excluded,” reacted Vontobel Mark Diethelm’s analyst in a note.
According to U-Blox, this transaction represents “a particularly attractive opportunity for our shareholders, our customers and our employees, because it allows the company to pursue its long-term strategic objectives with greater flexibility, supported by a solid and experienced financial partner”. The finalization of the operation is expected within six months. U-BLOX shares should then be struck off from the Swiss scholarship. The offer prospectus is expected to be published on August 27. The public offer will take place from September 11 to October 9, with an additional acceptance period ending on October 29.
The action flies away
The first rumors concerning Advent’s interest in U-Blox appeared on Friday afternoon. The information unveiled by the Bloomberg Financial Agency had immediately made the course of the action jump. Shortly after, U-Blox confirmed that discussions were underway with Advent concerning a possible acquisition.
Friday evening, the U-Blox action closed at 138.60 francs, already above the buyout price communicated thereafter. On Monday, the title was losing ground, however, temporarily passing under the bar of 135 francs. The action has soared 80% since the start of the year. However, it is still far from its highest historical. In August 2016, the title U-Blox reached 246.40 francs, reaching a market capitalization of 1.7 billion.
Founded in 1997 by former EPFZ researchers, U-Blox designs fleas and modules for location technologies used in particular in cars, consumer electronics, autonomous machines and drones. The company, which has some 850 employees, achieved in the first half of a turnover of 123.4 million francs, up 34% over one year. But the group based in Thalwil, on the southern shore of Lake Zurich, sails in the red figures. Its net loss widened at 46.3 million, after 25.8 million a year ago.
The deterioration of the result is due to depreciation and corrective values on mobile communication activities sold last June to the Irish trasna. U-Blox wants to focus on its key skills in satellite navigation systems. For the managing director, Stephan Zizala, the future of the company is in “automated driving and mobile robotics”.
Opportunities in Europe
Advent International is a major player in Private Equity. The company holds $ 94 billion in assets under management in more than 430 investments in the fields of financial services, consumption, health, industry or technology. In Switzerland, the company is a shareholder of the operator of shops excluding taxes and restaurants for travelers Avolta (formerly Dufry), of which it holds 8.7%.
The operation on U-Blox represents for Advent a new attempt to buy back listed in Europe. The American company recently failed to redeem the British Specient Precision Measuring Firm, ending a one -month auction war that saw the American firm KKR emerge with the highest offer. Investment capital companies are currently intensifying their operations on European markets, where valuations are deemed not very representative of business fundamentals.
