Van Elle has become the latest company to highlight London’s inability to provide liquidity for small- and medium-cap stocks, as it announced plans to exit London’s public markets through a takeover.
Austrian construction giant STRABAG is buying AIM-listed ground engineering specialist Van Elle Holdings for 52.3p per share in cash, valuing the business at approximately £58.8 million.
The offer represents a 58.5% premium to Van Elle’s closing price of 33p on 8 April and has the unanimous backing of the Van Elle board. The deal will be implemented via a scheme of arrangement.
For STRABAG, the acquisition slots neatly into its “WORK ON PROGRESS” growth strategy, which targets vertical integration and geographic diversification. The group has been scaling its UK presence through major programmes and sees Van Elle’s specialist geotechnical capabilities as a natural complement to its broader civil engineering offering.
The two businesses share exposure to residential, water, energy and transport markets, and STRABAG expects the combination to unlock cross-selling opportunities and revenue synergies.
Frank Nelson, Chairman of Van Elle said: “Formed in 1984, Van Elle is one of the UK’s largest specialist geotechnical engineering contractors. Across its diverse end markets including residential and housing, infrastructure and regional construction, the Van Elle Group is proud to have delivered over 1,000 projects over the previous financial year.”
“Van Elle’s life as a quoted company is a short part of that history, however a period containing some significant global events. While strongly positioned in a number of key markets, broader sector and macro-economic issues have impacted value creation opportunities. Given the ongoing cycle, the Van Elle Board believes that the offer not only represents a significant premium, it also provides shareholders with the certainty of cash consideration and Van Elle’s customer base with a supportive sector specialist owner focused on developing its product offering.”