July 23, 2018
The family behind Chinese car parts maker Ningbo Jifeng said on Monday that its revised takeover offer for German peer Grammer has been successful.
The Wang family, majority shareholder of Ningbo Jifeng, said that 37.7 percent of the Grammer shares had been tendered, meeting a lowered acceptance threshold of 36 percent.
The German automotive interiors maker has been at the centre of a power struggle between Ningbo Jifeng and Bosnia’s Hastor family, which holds 19 percent in Grammer and which had rejected the offer.
Grammer’s management, which had feared that its business would suffer if the Bosnians increased their influence, had welcomed Ningbo Jifeng as a white knight.
Anticipating that it would not get the initially targeted majority of Grammer shares, the Wang family had revised its offer, arguing that – based on historic attendance at Grammer’s shareholder meetings – the lower stake would still ensure a de facto majority.