M & A

Homag: Machine tool manufacturer eats machine tool manufacturer

MDax-listed Dürr AG is hoping to acquire a majority stake in Homag AG, the manufacturer of wood-treating machinery. According to Dürr AG who supplies to the automotive manufacturing industry, the major shareholders of Homag, including Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and the pool of shareholders of the Schule founding family and the Klessmann Foundation, intend selling off some 54% of share quota. The acquisition price is estimated at some 219 million Euros.

The antitrust authority still has to give its approval for the transaction. Dürr, the new majority shareholder has announced that it has no squeeze-out ideas nor any intentions of delisting Homag from Prime Standard. The takeover of the machine tool manufacturer for the woodworking industry with its quota of 28 percent of the world market will enable Dürr to broaden its range of products beyond the automotive industry. Homag AG posted a turnover for 2013 of just under 790 million Euros.

GFT: focus on finance

GFT Technologies AG, the Prime-Standard-listed company has bought over a special IT service provider in Great Britain. The transaction took place through GFT’s UK subsidiary GFT UK Ltd., and secured a 98% quota of Rule Financial Ltd. for GFT AG. Rule Financial Ltd is a provider of special IT services designed specifically with investment bank requirements in mind with a turnover posted last year of some 48 million Pounds (roughly 58 million Euros).Neither company has divulged the price of the transaction. Rule Financial and its allied companies have retained the remaining 2 percent that GFT will purchase by the end of  2016 through put and call stock options.

GFT expects that this acquisition will strengthen its presence on both the US and UK financial markets; management has forecast a further second half-year turnover for 2014 of 42 million Euros and a total 2014 year-end turnover of 352 million.