BUSINESS NEWS
Sep 07. Contract worries hurt SciSys. First-half revenues at SciSys, the defence and space software group, dropped nearly a third following difficulties with two large contracts and delays in securing other contracts in the defence sector.
The group has warned repeatedly of a shortfall, the last coming at the end of August, and said 2007 would lead to a “substantial” loss. In its first interim results since its demerger from CodaSciSys last year, it said revenues for the six months to June 30 slipped from £13.2m to £10.3m. Pre-tax losses from continuing operations widened from £143,000 to £1.3m. (Source: FT.com)
17 Sep 07. Aerospace and automotive parts maker Sequa Corp. said Monday its stockholders approved a buyout by private equity firm Carlyle Group. Under terms of the agreement, Carlyle will pay $175 per share in cash for the company. The companies said in July when the deal was announced that the total transaction is valued at $2.7bn. The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, has cleared the antitrust regulatory process in the United States, but remains subject to regulatory approvals in Europe and customary closing conditions, Sequa said.
17 Sep 07. Candover pulls €1.5bn Stork bid. Candover, the UK-based private equity group, on Monday withdrew its €1.5bn (£1.04bn, $2.08bn) offer for Stork, the Dutch industrial conglomerate, after Iceland’s LME, the largest shareholder in Stork with a 43 per cent stake, declined to back the deal. Candover had offered €47 a share for Stork, which supplies components to aerospace groups Boeing and Airbus, and had offered LME a substantial share of future profits of the Dutch group’s future profits, in the form of a stub equity stake. In a joint statement on Monday, Candover and Stork said: “It has become clear that one of the key conditions to the offer for all shares Stork, made by London Acquisition [Candover’s acquisition vehicle], will not be satisfied as LME will not tender its shares under the current offer.” They added that “constructive” discussions had continued over a possible alternative structure for the deal, but there was no certainty that agreement could be reached. Further announcements would be made before the first half of October, they said. LME includes Marel, an Icelandic food group that had been keen to buy Stork’s meat and chicken pulping unit. Shares in Stork fell 2.4 per cent in early Amsterdam trading to €45.51. (Source: FT.com)