Circular BidCo has decided to extend the takeover bid promoted on Sicit Group by a further two days: the offer expired on Wednesday 7 July and instead will end on Friday 9 July with the payment date of the consideration scheduled for next 16 July. After the controversies with the minority shareholders on the fairness of the price, the relaunch has therefore arrived.
Circular BidCo has raised the fee and from today to Friday is offering 16,80 euros, with an increase of 1,35 euros (+8,7%) compared to the consideration of €15,45 initially offered net of the 2020 dividend of €0,55. What prompted Circular BidCo to raise the price was the lack of participation in the takeover bid which had stopped at 42%, half the threshold considered for the success of the company which – recalls the promoter – will be completed once 95% of the shares are reached Sicit, a company listed on the Star del Sta, active in the agrochemical sector.
"The offer of 16,80 euros per share - recalls Circular BidCo - incorporates a premium, compared to the weighted average of the official prices prior to the announcement date, of 28,2% in 6 months and 36,8% in 12 months . The consideration expresses an implicit valuation equal to 15,3 times the ratio between the value of the company (EV) and the adjusted gross operating margin for 2020 communicated by the company (Ebitda).
At the time of the operation that had brought Sicit Group to the Stock Exchange through the SPAC SprintItaly, approved on 11 January 2019, the valuation of Sicit Group corresponded to an implicit multiple EV/Ebitda 2017 equal to approximately 7 times. In the period between the listing of Sicit Group and the announcement date of the takeover bid, the average EV/Ebitda multiplier was 8,9 times.
Completion of the takeover bid is conditional on Circular BidCo reaching 95% of Sicit's shares, concludes the press release, unless this condition is waived, to be agreed also with Intesa Holding. The latter has already adhered to the tender offer by conferring its 40,47% and has undertaken to reinvest the proceeds to acquire an equal stake with NB Renaissance in the indirect control of Sicit Group, thus remaining the company's reference industrial shareholder world leader in transforming tanning industry residues into biostimulants for agriculture and retardants for the gypsum industry using proprietary technologies, creating a sustainable circular economy model.
