Tender Offer From Caledonia Investments PLC
October 26 2009 - 4:11AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTGE TIDMCLDN
RNS Number : 3556B
TGE Marine AG
26 October 2009
TGE MARINE AG
("TGE" or the "Company")
Tender offer from Caledonia Investments plc, Gas Fin Investments S.A. and gas
fin s.a.
Mildred Scheel Str 1
Bonn
53175
Germany
Directors
Supervisory Board
Michael Richard Alexander (Chairman)
Hermann Alexander Alfred Thyll
Management Board
Dr. Manfred Karl Emil Kuever
Steffen Schober
Ulrich Ottmar Menninghaus
Dr. Klaus-Dieter Gerdsmeyer
Response to the offer from Caledonia Investments plc, Gas Fin Investments S.A.
and Gas Fin S.A. (the "Offerors").
Background
On 2 October 2009 the Offerors announced that they had that day acquired 141,937
Registered Shares of TGE, representing 11.66 per cent of the Company from
certain institutional shareholders (the "Initial Share Purchase"), taking the
Offerors' combined shareholding in the Company, together with those of Gas Fin
GbR, to 76.21 per cent in aggregate. The price agreed for the Initial Share
Purchase was GBP37.50 per Registered Share, which represented a premium of 14.05
per cent over the closing mid-market price of a TGE Registered Share on 1
October 2009.
The Offerors further announced that they believed that there was no significant
benefit to the Company in retaining a quotation on AIM and that they intended to
take the necessary steps to procure the cancellation of admission to AIM of
TGE's shares.
However, the Offerors also declared that they believed it was appropriate to
offer all other Shareholders and Depository Interest Holders in TGE the
opportunity to sell their Registered Shares or Depository Interests at the same
price as in the Initial Share Purchase, being GBP37.50 per Registered Share or
Depository Interest. This offer was made by way of a Tender Offer.
On 13 October 2009 the Offerors issued an offer document setting out the terms
of the proposed Tender Offer (the "Offer Document").
The Board's comment on the Offer
As noted in TGE's interim financial results issued on Wednesday 23 September
2009, the financial crisis of late 2008 has severely affected the shipbuilding
market in general. In TGE's core markets, analysts predict that the drop in
activity will continue in 2009 although the Board stated in those interim
results that it expects the market to recover in 2010/2011. Although the Company
has now won its first contract for over a year, details of which are contained
in the announcement issued on 22 October 2009, the Board does not believe that
the market is materially improving yet and there can be no guarantee for
shareholders that any additional new contracts will be awarded to TGE in the
short term.
The TGE Board are also mindful that despite its hopes for 2010/2011 there is no
guarantee that the market will recover at that time and in particular any
recovery will be dependent upon the major ship financing banks opening new
facilities for shipping loans. So, whilst the Board is optimistic that market
activity will return, the pace and the extent of that recovery will depend on
the improvements in the global economy and the availability of bank financing.
The price offered in the Tender Offer represents a premium of 14.1 per cent over
the closing mid-market price of a TGE Registered Share on 1 October 2009, the
day before announcement of the Tender Offer. However, it also represents a
discount of 71.2 per cent from the closing mid-market price of a TGE Registered
Share on 15 May 2008, the day on which the Company listed on the AIM market of
the London Stock Exchange.
Nonetheless, following discussions with the Offerors and notwithstanding the new
contract announced on 22 October 2009, the TGE Board does not believe that there
is likely to be any increase in the price offered to investors by the Offerors.
Important factors for TGE Shareholders to consider
The TGE Board is mindful that as at the date of the Offer, the Offerors hold
76.21 per cent of TGE's Registered Shares and believe that TGE Shareholders
should consider the following matters when considering whether to accept the
Offer:
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| i) | The Offerors have stated in the Offer Document that they intend to procure the cancellation of the listing and admission to trading of the TGE Shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, which would be conditional upon the consent of not less than 75 per cent of the votes actually cast by TGE Shareholders at a general meeting. |
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| | |
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| ii) | The TGE Board believes that, should such cancellation of the listing and admission to trading of TGE Shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange be completed, the liquidity and marketability of the TGE Shares would reduce substantially. If TGE Shareholders do not accept the Offer, there can be no guarantee that they will be able to sell their TGE Shares at a price equivalent to that under the Offer for some time, if ever. In addition, according to the German Stock Corporation Act, minority shareholders can not impose the purchase of their shares on any majority shareholder(s) in consideration for appropriate compensation. A compensation claim of minority shareholders against a majority shareholder could only arise in connection with certain structural measures pursuant to the AktG or the Reorganisation of Companies Act (UmwG) (for example, profit and loss pooling agreements between the Company and a majority shareholder). Therefore in the absence of any significant structural corporate activities the Offerors will not be obliged to buy the shares of any Minority Shareholders at any price following the delisting. |
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| | |
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| iii) | In addition, should such delisting take place, TGE Shareholders who do not accept the Offer would no longer benefit from the shareholder protections provided by the rules applicable to companies listed and admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (for instance, the Company will be under no obligation to make public announcements regarding changes in its financial condition). |
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| iv) | Following the delisting of TGE from AIM, the German Takeover Act will not apply since the shares of TGE should not be listed in any other regulated market in Germany or the European Economic Area (so, for instance, there will be no rules governing the levels of consideration to be offered under any takeover of the Company). |
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Conclusion
The TGE Board, having been so advised by Singer Capital Markets, believe that
the key factors for TGE Shareholders when considering whether to accept the
Offer are the matters referred to above in the section "Important factors for
TGE Shareholders to consider". Under those circumstances, the TGE Board would
see little alternative for Shareholders who do not want to hold a minority stake
in a potentially unlisted company other than to accept the Offer.
Unless otherwise specifically defined in this announcement, terms defined in the
Offer Document shall have the same meanings when used in this announcement.
For further information, please contact:
Singer Capital Markets Limited +44 (0)20 3205 7500
Jos Trusted
James Maxwell
Pelham Public Relations +44(0)20 7337 1500
Mark Antelme
Henry Lerwill
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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