Neways ends VDL courtship

The Neways board of directors and supervisory board have pulled the plug on a possible takeover by VDL Groep. While the Eindhoven-based industrial conglomerate calls it a surprising turn of events, the EMS specialist from Son says it merely entered into talks to better evaluate the indicative proposal. And after careful consideration, it has concluded that the proposal significantly undervalues Neways’ value development and therefore insufficiently serves the interests of the company, its business and its stakeholders, including the other shareholders.

At the end of last month, VDL disclosed its plans to make a public offer on all Neways shares. After upping the proposed 12.50 euros per share to 13 euros, the conglomerate says it had irrevocable commitments for 68.7 percent of the issued and outstanding capital, including its own 27.63 percent stake. Consistent with their fiduciary duties, the Neways boards have reviewed the offer. After careful analysis, they’ve come to the unanimous conclusion that the present proposal, including the non-financial covenants, doesn’t sufficiently reflect the value creation of their company, as a result of which they can’t support it.

For VDL, the rejection puts a sudden end to the talks but not to its aspirations of further developing its electronics capabilities. Neways, in turn, says that, with the System Innovator strategy introduced last year and the ongoing One Neways program, it has full confidence in its long-term strategy.