Austrian firm fails in bid to take over Osram
October 4, 2019
The bid from Austrian firm AMS to take over the struggling German lighting manufacturer Osram failed on Friday. However, AMS has vowed not to give up after it failed to get the minimum number of Osram shareholders to accept their buyout offer.
A threshold of 62.5% of Osram shares had been set, but the owners of only 51.6% of the shares agreed to AMS's offer of €41 ($45) per share. Despite this setback, the Austrian producer of sensors said it would continue its pursuit of Osram.
The IG Metall trade workers union has fiercely opposed the takeover, saying that AMS would likely dismantle Osram.
Osram's board of directors, on the other hand, had voiced approval for the takeover, but they included so many doubts about AMS that their assent was seen as mostly superficial.
Founded in 1906 and soon after acquired by Siemens, the Munich-based Osram was long known for producing lightbulbs, and grew to include operations in over 120 countries. However, in recent years it has encountered increasing financial difficulties, and spun off its lightbulb manufacturing business to a new company called Ledvance. Osram now focuses on semiconductors and specialist lighting solutions, such as industrial lighting and headlights for road vehicles.
The bidding battle over Osram's future was kicked off by two US investors who in the end only offered 35 euros per share, and were therefore almost immediately out of the running.
For now, Osram will remain independent, and has indicated that it intends to rescue itself from the brink of financial ruin, despite numerous restructuring plans in recent years that have failed to yield results. The company employs more 25,000 people worldwide.
es/msh (dpa, Reuters)