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17 May 2021
18:39
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There may be music in a merger of the Belgian Recticel and the Austrian Greiner. But the mating dance started with a firm false note.
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Of course, it provokes resistance when an uninvited guest walks into a company, settles into the director’s office and starts giving orders from there. This is now happening at Recticel. The Belgian foam and insulation producer is suddenly saddled with a new reference shareholder, the Austrian plastic producer Greiner, which has bought the 27 percent stake of the investment company Bois Sauvage in Recticel. The Austrians immediately launch an offer for the other shares with the intention of acquiring the majority.
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The offer is unsolicited and can hardly be viewed as anything other than hostile at first. Greiner launches its offer without first seeking the approval of Recticel’s board of directors and management. It works deviously by concocting a deal with the main shareholder behind Recticel’s back.
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Akkefietjes
Recticel and Greiner are no strangers to each other. They have had a joint venture for a while. But due to a few minor issues, the relationship between the two companies has been clouded. That makes this coup difficult for Recticel to digest.
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The investment company Bois Sauvage cannot be blamed for having been a stable shareholder for many years to cash in on its stake in Recticel in order to set up other investment projects. But it is not proper that she does this without consulting the foam and insulation company itself.
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Recticel has been faced with a fait accompli and has few options to block Greiner access. Recticel can look for a white knight, another party that wants to make a higher takeover bid. But who is willing to do so, knowing that Greiner is the shareholder who has a blocking minority?
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The way Greiner makes advances towards Recticel makes it look like a robbery. And then the heels go into the sand.
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And Recticel is better off with another investment company or with a private equity group as the new main shareholder, who rarely want to commit themselves for the long term. Is there another industrial group that wants to save Recticel from Greiner’s clutches? But isn’t that the choice between the cholera and the plague?
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Jammer
It is always a shame when Belgian industrial companies fall into foreign hands. But in a single European market, cross-border mergers and acquisitions are normal, if they are not a one-way street. It is not the task of the government to make such operations more difficult or impossible, unless strategic interests are at stake. But that’s not the case here.
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Greiner, an Austrian family business of more or less the same caliber as Recticel, may not even be such a bad match if the folds between the two groups can be ironed out and Recticel gets the chance to help design the partnership. Because the way Greiner makes his advances, it looks like a robbery. And then the heels go into the sand.
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