Business

Kingspan ends up with 35.7% of Nordic Waterproofing after failed takeover bid

Chief executive Gene Murtagh rules out improving offer

Kingspan chief executive Gene Murtagh: 'We made our offer of 160 [Swedish kroner] and that’s our offer.'

Joe Brennan
Thu Mar 28 2024 - 15:10

Kingspan confirmed on Thursday it has ended up with 35.7 per cent of a Swedish maker of building waterproofing products after the company’s board and most of its shareholders rejected the Cavan group’s takeover offer.

The Irish insulation giant announced last October the equivalent of a €229 million mandatory cash offer for Nordic Waterproofing after its stake in the company had crossed the key 30 per cent threshold. Nordic Waterproofing’s board recommended in February that its shareholders not take up the offer.

However, a number of shareholders ignored the board recommendation.

“During the acceptance period for the offer, which ended on March 27th, 2024, the offer has been accepted by shareholders representing a total of 1,144,220 shares in Nordic Waterproofing, corresponding to approximately 4.8 per cent of the total number of shares and votes in the company,” Kingspan said in a statement on Thursday, noting that it brings its total holding up to 35.7 per cent.

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Kingspan has decided not to extend the offer period. Its chief executive, Gene Murtagh, ruled out improving the 160 Swedish kroner per share (€13.88) bid when the group reported results for 2023 in February.

“We made our offer of 160 and that’s our offer,” he told analysts at the time. “This is our fifth public outing in terms of going for public organisations and each time we’ve made an offer [we’ve] stuck to our price – and that will be the very same in this particular case.”

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The takeover deal was aimed at adding further scale to Kingspan’s roofing and waterproofing division. It ventured into this space in 2022 with the €550 million purchase of Ondura, a French player in roofing and waterproofing of commercial buildings.

It quickly followed up with the purchase of Belgian peer Derbigum for €95 million. The fledgling roofing and waterproofing division reported almost €500 million of sales last year, equating to about 6 per cent of the group’s €8.1 billion total.

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times

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