June 5, 2007 -- Austria's steel giant Voestalpine has taken over 54.6 per cent of the world's leading manufacturer of steel for machine tools, Boehler-Uddeholm, according to statements on Tuesday. The majority was somewhat less than expected by some analysts, who had spoken of up to 70 per cent. The "elephants' marriage" in the Austrian steel industry was announced in March with a takeover bid by Voest for Boehler-Uddeholm.

Voest moved in after the Boehler board rejected a takeover bid by the British finance investment firm CVC. The steel giant Voest said it could take over Boehler within two months. The Voest management first reached agreement in principle with the Fries group, which held nearly 21 per cent of Boehler. The rest was in the hands of small shareholders.

The Voest board decided at the time to make a bid for the whole of Boehler. There would be an offer to all shareholders to sell for 69 euros per share, giving Boehler a total value of just over 3.5 billion euros. Voest head Wolfgang Eder made it clear he was in a hurry. "We want to implement the whole thing quickly", he said.

Source: APA News Service
Source: Factiva