Elliott acquires stake in Altran
This article was first published on Activist Insight Online on July 15, 2019. For more information about the product, click here.
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Elliott Management has taken a position in France-based Altran Technologies, less than a month after the company agreed to a 3.6 billion-euro ($4.1 billion) buyout bid made by rival firm Capgemini.
The New York-based activist began accumulating its position in Altran on July 8 and has revealed in a regulatory filing that it has no intention of tendering its shares to Capgemini, in what is likely to be a merger bumpitrage campaign.
“As of today, their intention…is not to tender any Altran Technologies shares they may acquire,” the filing noted. Elliott has also purchased millions of Altran equity derivatives.
Altran stock trades slightly above the agreed takeover price of 14 euros per share, suggesting investors see potential for another bidder to emerge or an activist to agitate for a higher price.
Elliott has historically taken relatively small stakes in companies as an opening gambit, before increasing its holding over time.
The activist fund has been quite active on European soil in recent years. It recently has taken positions in Pernod and Telecom Italia, while in Germany it took stakes in ThyssenKrupp, SAP, and Bayer.
Altran shares have more than doubled in value during 2019, with the stock trading at 14.37 euros at 10 a.m. Continental European Summer Time on Monday.