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Expro International Group plc on Monday defended its decision
to stick with an agreed £1.81 billion ($3.58 billion) bid from a private
equity consortium and close the door on the prospect of a higher offer
from Halliburton Co.
Expro said Monday that Halliburton's latest 1,625 pence per share proposal, submitted Friday, was "subject to a number of preconditions" and the price didn't compensate shareholders for the extra time they would have had to wait for the payment. Expro's agreed bidders, Candover Partners, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and AlpInvest NV, are offering 1,615 pence per share. Settlement under that scheme of arrangement takeover is due July 10.
Expro said if Halliburton had made a firm offer on Friday it would have been legally obliged to postpone court meetings scheduled for Monday and Wednesday about the private equity bid. However, Expro said that Halliburton made its offer conditional on Expro entering a scheme of arrangement takeover bid -- a move that would have been necessary to clear the way for an auction between the two bidders. Despite the reasoning, it appears to have incurred shareholder wrath. The Sunday Telegraph reported that a group of unnamed institutional investors were "furious" about the target's decision and felt that the company hadn't fulfilled its legal duty to secure the highest price. One investor told the paper it was calling in its lawyers to block this week's court meetings on the private equity bid. The PE consortium, which calls itself Umbrellastream Ltd., had agreed to offer 1,435 pence per share for Expro in April. It then raised its offer twice pre-emptively to fend off Halliburton, which had made its interest public shortly after that original takeover agreement. - Laura Board See full story, including advisers, on TheDeal.com See Telegraph story See earlier story: PE group pushes Expro bid See earlier story: Halliburton bids for Expro Categories Deal Video
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