Cooper Controls wins battle for Mount
COOPER Controls has won the battle over Mount Engineering after Redhall Group decided not increase its offer for the firm.
The Mount board has now recommended that shareholders accept the Cooper offer which values the company at £19.23m.
Wakefield-based Redhall had made an offer of 70p per share but was trumped by Cooper Controls, a subsidiary of US firm Cooper Industries, which put forward an 82p per share bid.
The Cooper offer represents an increase in value of the company of £6.5m since it began trading on the AIM market in July 2007.
In a statement, the Mount directors said the Cooper offer provided the most value for its shareholders with “an attractive premium and certainty of value.”
Redhall said it would not be raising its offer and described Mount’s decision as “disappointing given the complementary nature of Mount’s activities”.
Redhall on track to meet targets
Mount Engineering is based in York and has two West Midlands subsidiaries, Redapt Engineering, in Darlaston, and Aldridge-based Raxton as well as Hi-Flow valves in Suffolk.
Mount makes threaded adapters and reducers that can be used in explosive areas with its major customers coming from the oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
Explaining their decision, the Mount directors said it had found it difficult to pursue its expansion strategy because of the economic conditions which had limited the number of oil and gas projects coming on stream and an inability to identify suitable targets for acquisition.
Mount managing director David Stanham will remain in place until at least June next year.
The York office of Dickinson Dees, led by Philip Ashworth and Matthew Smith, are advising Mount Engineering.
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