Dutch mergers and acquisitions news archive
March 2013
TNT Sells Chinese Unit
THE HAGUE, 29/03 - Packages firm TNT Express has sold its local activities in China to private equity fund Citic for an undisclosed amount.
TNT Express's operations in China have been up for sale because they are loss-making. These comprise 1,500 deports which link 600 cities. At the end of 2012, TNT Express wrote down 75 million euros on its operations in China. The company said it would not now be necessary to book further write-downs which now stand at 70 million euros in its books after debts. The sale of its Chinese operations follows a change in strategy following the EU's blocking of a takeover of the Dutch company by US rival UPS in February. TNT Express is now concentrating on the European market and has abandoned its ambition to grow in developing markets. It will retain its international operation in China however. |
Takeover Bid for Douwe Egberts
AMSTERDAM, 29/03 - Shares of DE Master Blenders soared 30 percent in trading yesterday after the company revealed it was in talks about a takeover.
DE Master Blenders has been approached by JAB, the investment vehicle of Joh. Benckiser which already holds 15 percent of the Dutch coffee and tea company. JAB has made a bid for shares at 12.75 euros. On Wednesday there werev rumours that AnInbev wanted to acquire the company. But ING analyst Marco Guipers said he does not expect a rival bid. DE Master Blender shares rose by 25.4 percent to 12.05 euros. The share was launched in Amsterdam last June at 8 euros a share. |
CSM Sells Bakery Arm to Rhone Capital
DIEMEN, 26/03 - CSM is selling its bakery division to investment company Rhône Capital for about 1 billion euros, the producer of lactic acid and bakery supplies announced yesterday.
The bakery activities of CSM had 2012 sales of around 2.5 billion euros. Some 8,200 people work in the unit in 28 countries. Net proceeds from the sale for CSM will amount to 850 million euros in cash. CSM put Bakery Supplies up for sale in May last year because it wants to concentrate on its Purac lactic acid production division and Caravan Ingredients, which makes speciality ingredients for bakeries and other food additives. CSM and Rhône expect to complete the transaction in the third quarter of the year. It still requires the approval of the authorities in Europe and the US. Rhône is also taking over the CSM brand-name. CSM itself plans to change its company name this year, a company spokeswoman said yesterday. She declined further comment on what the new name of the company might be. |
Arcadis Expands in Canada
AMSTERDAM, 23/03 - Engineering company Arcadis is expanding its activities in Canada with the acquisition of Senes Consultancy and DCS.
Senes is a consultant in the area of, for example, environmental and radiation risks in the mining, energy and industrial sectors. DCS specialises in soil purification. The two companies have combined annual sales equivalent to 23 million euros. Arcadis gave no takeover price-tag Friday. |
KPN Sells Unit to Spie
AMSTERDAM, 20/03 - KPN is selling its Infrastructure Services & Projects (IS&P) unit to SPIE Nederland, the telecom company announced yesterday without giving financial details.
IS&P has some 600 full-time jobs and contributed over 100 million euros to KPN’s sales in the business market segment last year. The sale is in line with KPN’s strategy of selling non-core activities, the company said. |
NS Buys 49 Pct of HTM
AMSTERDAM, 14/03 - Netherlands Rail (NS) has bought a 49 percent stake in The Hague's public transport company HTM for 45 million euros, the state-owned railway company yesterday announced.
Plans for the alliance were already announced last year. The rest of the shares remain in the hands of the city council. HTM and NS plan to invest 75 million euros in improving public transport services and the links between rail, tram and buses. |