French glassmaker Saint-Gobain has denied press reports that it was in acquisition talks with Britain“s SIG Plc.
“Following certain reports that appeared in the press, Saint-Gobain wishes to say tha…
French glassmaker Saint-Gobain has denied press reports that it was in acquisition talks with Britain“s SIG Plc. “Following certain reports that appeared in the press, Saint-Gobain wishes to say that no talks are underway on acquiring the British group SIG,” the company said in a statement. Shares in insulation and roofing distributor SIG Plc jumped recently, following press reports saying that Saint-Gobain was poised to announce a cash bid for the group. SIG shares were up 2.81% at 312p recently on the London stock exchange, having traded as a high as 336p in pre-market trade. Saint-Gobain shares were off 1.32% at Euros 179.7, underperforming the Paris CAC-40 blue chip index. A British newspaper reported analysts thought Saint-Gobain was likely to offer between 350p and 400p a share. The paper said Saint-Gobain executives had already held talks with SIG“s management and a formal bid was likely to be accepted by SIG management. SIG is Europe“s largest distributor of insulation and roofing materials, and has been the subject of bid speculation ever since SIG“s management buyout failure in October 1998. The Financial Times reported Saint-Gobain would be pitting itself against US private equity firm Clayton Dublier Rice which was thought to have made a bid in December of around UK 377 million or 320p a share.