Premier Farnell, the struggling company behind the Raspberry Pi mini-computer, has been snapped up by Swiss firm Dätwyler in a near-£800 million takeover, dashing speculation of a merger with Electrocomponents.
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The Leeds-based electronic components distributor said Dätwyler would pay 165p in cash for each Premier Farnell share – 51% more than the United Kingdom company’s closing share price on 13 June.
Under the terms of the Transaction, each Premier Farnell Shareholder will be entitled to receive 165 pence in cash for each Premier Farnell Share.
If the deal completes, the combined group will operate a global technical components division with approximately 4,900 employees, over one million products stocked in warehouses and is expected to generate revenue of approximately 1.8bn Swiss francs (£1.3bn).
The offer from Dätwyler Holding, which is quoted in Zurich but controlled by the family vehicle of the two brothers who founded it, is pitched at 165p, 51 per cent higher than Premier’s closing share price on Monday.
The deal comes at a time, when the British firm has been dealing with declining profits and reduced margins.
Premier Farnell has sold more than eight million Raspberry Pi computers since it was launched in 2012.
Premier Farnell announced a profit warning in July 2015, and chucked out CEO Laurence Bain.
Jos Opdeweegh, Premier Farnell’s chief executive, said: “The sales trends of 2015/16 continued into the first quarter of this financial year, with strength in continental Europe and Asia Pacific and hard trading conditions in North America and UK”. Sales from continuing operations fell 1.4% in the three months to 1 May.
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“We believe that Premier Farnell will be better positioned to address these changes and challenges with the benefit of the increased scale afforded by a combination with Datwyler”. “I believe the combination of the two companies represents a strong strategic fit and is highly attractive for customers, shareholders and colleagues”.
