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Offenbar neben Prysmian und Nexans bedeutend:

By Greg Roumeliotis

AMSTERDAM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Nexans, the world's biggest cable maker, is in danger of seeing its offer for Dutch rival Draka slip through its fingers, as it did for Prysmian, if it does not improve the terms of the deal.

In the summer of 2009, Italy's Prysmian, the No.2 cable maker, made a failed bid for Draka as the company's share price galloped beyond its reach -- from 8 euros to more than 14 euros -- while negotiations dragged on for more than two months.

Last week, Nexans said it would offer 15 euros per share for Nexans, which would value the company at 731 million euros ($1.03 billion).

However, shares had already soared by 50 percent since early September, when investors began speculating there was interest from Nexans, and the price has been hovering above 15 euros since a Dutch newspaper reported on Oct. 14 that Nexans was speaking to a major Draka shareholder.

'I believe the market has to a large extent priced in a likely rejection of Nexans's offer by Draka's management, given that it has been eight days since the official announcement, and a positive share reaction for Draka of 5 to 6 percent is likely (were the offer to be officially rejected),' SNS Securities analyst Martijn den Drijver said.

Nexans said it had started talks with Draka on a deal and a Draka spokesman declined to comment on when the company would announce its reaction.

Analysts and investors said the proposed offer was too low and needed to be raised if the French company wanted to avoid the same fate as Prysmian.

'This is just the starting point and I think Nexans' offer would have to be seriously higher before other Draka shareholders tendered their shares,' said Jack Jonk, head of equities at Delta Lloyd Asset Management, whose stake in Draka is a little over 2 percent.

ABN AMRO analyst Maarten Bakker agreed.

'I don't believe Nexans can succeed at its current offer level of 15 euros per share and (it) is likely to raise its offer,' said Bakker said, adding that even without synergies, Draka was worth at least 20 euros per share.

HOW HIGH IS TOO HIGH?

Nexans is considering a rights issue to fund its takeover of Draka, but with net debt of only 277 million euros, a cash call may not be required. Any downgrading of its BB+ credit rating would likely be limited to one notch, Standard&Poor's said.

ABN AMRO'S Bakker estimates that Nexans could pay up to 17.5 euros per share for Draka if its the offer is solely financed by debt and more than 20 euros per share if it uses an equity issue.

But SNS's Den Drijver cautioned that an offer beyond 17 euros per share would be a very challenging pitch for Nexans to make to its management board, as any synergies with Draka are unlikely to be realised quickly.

Nexans, which is being advised by BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole, has wooed Draka shareholder Flint Beheer, the investment vehicle of the wealthy Fentener Van Vlissingen family. Flint has conditionally agreed to tender its 48.5 percent stake in a Nexans bid for Draka.

Flint, which is advised by Lazard, bought Draka from Philips in 1986 and listed it in 1991. It also came close to selling its stake in the summer of 2009 when Prysmian was in talks with Draka about an all-share offer.

Prysmian said last week it was not in contact with Draka anymore, denting market speculation it could counter Nexans' bid, and market participants said they did not expect a bid from anyone else.

ABN AMRO's Bakker said Draka shareholders should get a premium of 6 euros per share in a takeover for synergies that include merging and streamlining manufacturing and sale operations, and bolstering raw materials purchasing power.

The current offer, he said, is worth only 5.2 times Draka's enterprise value to projected 2011 core profit.

In the power cable segment, Nexans would help Draka consolidate its presence in the fragmented low-voltage market and combine it with its high-margin high-voltage offering, tapping into demand for replacing aging power infrastructure.

Draka is also a market leader in elevator cables. It has designed and provided cables for the 58 lifts of the world's tallest skyscraper, Dubai's Burj Khalifa, which towers some 828 metres above ground.

[tonisoprano]

Mal schauen wie es weitergeht....

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spannend:

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - World No. 1 cable maker Nexans urged the European Commission to be aware of the risks

to Europe's competitiveness from Chinese group Xinmao's proposed

takeover of Draka.

Draka, Europe's third-largest cable maker, rejected Nexans'

731 million euro ($956.9 million) bid in October, and is now

considering a 1 billion euro offer from Xinmao which trumps an

agreed 813 million euro bid from Italian company Prysmian .

In a letter to European Commission President Jose Manuel

Barroso dated Nov. 30 and seen by Reuters, Nexans Chief

Executive Frederic Vincent said the European Union executive

should worry about the risks attached to Xinmao's offer.

'This move, undertaken by a company that most likely

benefits from active state support and a very protected domestic

market, cannot fail to concern European political authorities,'

Vincent said in the letter.

'It must surely make the Commission aware of the risks that

could pertain to Europe's competitiveness and its loss of

technological know-how.'

Copies of the letter were also sent to EU Industry

Commissioner Antonio Tajani, Competition Commissioner Joaquin

Almunia, EU trade chief Karel De Gucht, Internal Market

Commissioner Michel Barnier and energy chief Guenther Oettinger.

The bid battle has drawn contrasting reactions from Dutch

and Italian authorities.

Italy's industry minister, Paolo Romani, last month called

Xinmao's offer a 'hostile bid', saying companies in strategic

sectors such as Draka should remain in European hands. But the

Dutch government said it had no problem with a Chinese offer.

Nexan has said it would continue to monitor the situation.

Xinmao has financial backing from Minsheng Banking

Corporation, China's No. 7 listed lender, for its bid.

It wants to use Draka's core technologies to develop the

Chinese market, which made up close to half of the global demand

for fibre optic cable in 2009.

Vincent also urged the Commission to change its guidelines

on issuing fines, which have resulted in billions of euros in

penalties levied on companies such as Microsoft and

Intel.

'I would raise the alarm against a policy of sanctions that

ultimately penalizes businesses and weaken Europe's

international competitiveness,' he said.

The regulator is currently investigating whether Nexans took

part in a cartel.

'It's clear that the possible prospect of fines related to

an investigation that was launched in January 2009 - lacking an

equivalent in any other country in the world - is a handicap for

us and hinders us from fighting with equal force against the

Chinese conglomerate,' he said.

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AMSTERDAM, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Xinmao has always been confident about its bid for Dutch cable manufacturer Draka and expects to make an announcement about its offer on Monday, a spokesman for the Chinese company said on Friday.

'Xinmao is a serious company backed by serious financing by a serious bank. I don't know why Draka says it is concerned about the financing, you should ask them,' said Kees Jongsma, a spokesman for Xinmao in the Netherlands.

Xinmao expects to make an announcement about its 1 billion euros offer on Dec. 20, Jongsma said.

Earlier on Friday Draka said it remained concerned about the progress made to date by Xinmao in respect of securing financing and obtaining the relevant approvals.

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http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2011-01/19008182…