GE believes it has enough options to advance its 3D printing capabilities should the takeover of SLM Solutions fail
In an interview with Reuters, General Electric has warned it can build its 3D printing capability without buying SLM Solutions in light of opposition from a 20 per cent shareholder.
The deal, which would see the giant US tech company buy the German metals 3D printing company, combined with a similar deal for Sweden’s Arcam, is one of the biggest in history, valued at $1.4B.
GE CFO Jeff Bornstein, said: “We have options and alternatives,” Bornstein told Reuters in an interview. “We don’t have to do SLM. We’d like to. We like the company, we like the technology, we like the people.”
SLM investor Elliott Advisors, which owns 20 per cent of SLM, said it would reject GE’s offer of €38 per share, despite the company’s share price falling below that value.
Update:
The proposed takeover fell through, with SLM Solutions providing the following statement:
GE Germany Holdings AG, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of GE Aviation and part of the General Electric (GE) Group, had published a takeover offer on September 26, 2016 for all outstanding shares of SLM Solutions Group AG. The acceptance period expired on October 24, 2016, 24:00 hours (local time: Frankfurt am Main). With the failure to reach the minimum acceptance threshold of 75% of SLM shares outstanding, one of the completion conditions failed to be met and the offer then lapsed.
Dr. Markus Rechlin, CEO of SLM Solutions Group AG, comments on the outcome of the takeover attempt: “Being part of the GE Group would have given us the opportunity to accelerate on our growth track. GE had made serious and credible commitments to expand our locations and distribution network. In our view, a successful offer would not only have been in the interest of GE but also in the interest of our company, our employees and our shareholders.” The Management and Supervisory boards in their joint opinion had unanimously recommended acceptance of the offer. In the final instance, however, acceptance of the offer was subject to each SLM shareholder’s individual decision.
SLM Solutions states that it will continue further developing itself into an integrated system provider in the additive manufacturing area.
