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Bloomberg
SLM Solutions AG has hired Lazard Ltd. to help it explore strategic options six months after General Electric Co. withdrew a 680 million-euro ($737 million) offer for the 3-D printing company, according to people familiar with the matter.
The review could lead to the sale of a stake in the Luebeck, Germany-based company or even a complete takeover, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. The shares rose as much as 5.2 percent on the news and traded 3 percent higher as of 11:58 a.m. in Frankfurt. “We’ve hired Lazard to advise us on how to best deal with the new situation following the failed transaction with General Electric,†Uwe Boegershausen, SLM’s chief finance officer and interim chief executive officer, told Bloomberg News on Monday. He declined to provide additional details.
Two of the company’s largest owners are willing to sell their combined stake of almost 30 percent, a step that would pave the way for a new anchor shareholder to swoop in, the people said. The move may be a prelude to a full takeover of Luebeck-based SLM, which makes machines that produce aircraft components and other parts with a printing technique known as additive manufacturing, they said.
Company founder Hans Joachim Ihde, who holds 24 percent, and DPE Deutsche Private Equity B.V., which owns 5.4 percent, are willing to sell their stakes, enabling a potential buyer to purchase nearly 30 percent at once, the people said. Thirty percent is the threshold at which stakeholders are obliged to make a public offer under German takeover law.