Britische Rüstungsindustrie
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Zitat:BAE in surprise £355m agreed bid for Alvis


By Peter Spiegel, Defence Correspondent
Published: June 3 2004 19:36 | Last Updated: June 3 2004 19:36



BAE Systems on Thursday night snatched British tank maker Alvis from the clutches of American rival General Dynamics with an 11th hour cash offer valued at £355m.

General Dynamics said it would not raise its £309m bid, in effect conceding the maker of Challenger tanks and Warrior fighting vehicles to BAE.

The surprise BAE move - equities markets have been discounting the chance of a counter-offer for weeks - was presented to Alvis just on Thursday morning and accepted by its board in a matter of hours. Nicholas Prest, Alvis chairman, said his board dropped General Dynamics for BAE bid primarily because of the higher price, which comes to 320p per share.

General Dynamics did not formally withdraw its bid, which closes on Monday, but its decision not to raise the stakes was in many ways a concession to the inevitable. BAE already owns 28.7 per cent of Alvis, which it bought last year for 230p per share last year as part of an effort to get into military land systems.

In addition, BAE's new offer, orchestrated over the last month by its investment banking advisor Goldman Sachs and five hedge funds, included irrevocable contracts for an additional 16.2 per cent of Alvis's shares. BAE's control over 44.9 per cent of the company was too much for General Dynamics to overcome, one person close to US group acknowledged.

BAE's move came just days before a Monday deadline set by General Dynamics for shareholders to buy into its bid. On Wednesday, GD announced it had commitments from 21.6 per cent of shareholders, well short of the 50.1 per cent it needed to take control.

People close to the GD deal had expressed confidence in recent days, however, noting most of the outstanding shares were held by arbitragers who would eventually have to sell to GD, or else watch the entire deal fall through.

Indeed, the GD deal was so far along that British regulators announced yesterday they had cleared the deal, which made securing a majority of shareholders GD's final hurdle.

If approved by regulators, BAE's purchase would give it a commanding position in all aspects of British defence on air, land and sea, making it the military's dominant supplier of warships, fighter jets and armoured vehicles.
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