After having struggled for a long time to enter into negotiation, the stock came out at the end of the morning Cerved it earns 19,65%, at 9,59 euros. To trigger the wave of purchases was the takeover bid launched by Castor on Monday to remove the company from the list. The full voluntary offer of the holding company controlled by Andrea Pignataro's Ion Capital - reads a note - is 9,50 euros per share, and incorporates a premium of 34,9% compared to the official share price on March 5 2021 and 43% compared to the weighted arithmetic average of the official prices recorded by the shares in the last twelve months. The takeover bid for Cerved arrives the day after the above one Isagro, the company in the Star segment which doubled its price on Monday after the takeover bid in which it was the protagonist.
The offer is promoted through Castor, controlled by Castor Bidco Holdings, which is in turn wholly owned by FermIon Investment Group, 85,75% owned by Ion Capital Partners and by Gic Private Limited, a sovereign investment fund founded by the government of Singapore in 1981, for 10%. The remaining 4,25% is in the hands of institutional investors.
The sum offered, explains Equita, provides for an implied 2022 EV/EBITDA multiple of 10 times and a price/earnings ratio of 15,6 times. All on the condition that the bidder comes to hold a direct and/or indirect stake of more than 90% of Cerved (threshold condition). In any case, even if the delisting is not achieved automatically, Castor reserves the right to waive the threshold condition and bid farewell to Piazza Affari through the merger between the two companies.
Furthermore, on 7 March, Fondo Strategico Italiano signed a term sheet with ION under which FSI undertakes to subscribe, against the payment of an amount equal to 150 million, a financial instrument that can be converted into shares of the vehicle. “We believe that the presence of FSI in the capital reduces the possibility of findings in terms of Golden Power”, Equita comments.
