Cobham sweetens its offer to £275m to secure Thrane deal
AERO electronics group Cobham has agreed to buy Danish rival Thrane & Thrane after its increased offer of £275m was accepted by the board of the satellite communications equipment maker.
Thrane & Thrane shareholders will be offered 435 Danish crowns (£47.54) in cash for each Thrane & Thrane share, an increase of 15 Danish crowns per share over Cobham’s offer announced on 10 April, 2012,” the British company said.
Cobham last month renewed its initial 420 Danish crowns per share bid for Thrane after some investors warmed to a previously rejected proposal. The British company said its revised offer takes into account the dividend Thrane would have declared for the financial year to the end of April 2012.
“This is an outstanding opportunity to bring together two world-class, highly complementary, commercially focused SATCOM businesses and is in line with our aim of prioritising investment that will bring more balance” said Cobham chairman John Devaney.
Cobham said its offer represented a premium of 48 per cent to the closing price of Thrane & Thrane shares on 24 February, the last trading day before Thrane said it had received a takeover bid.