Prysmian Group (BIT: PRY) and General Cable Corp. (NYSE: BGC) said that the acquisition of General Cable has been finalized, following the terms of the merger agreement reached last December. Prysmian has acquired all the outstanding shares of General Cable's common stock for $30.00 per share in cash, as previously announced in February (see "Prysmian acquisition of General Cable earns shareholder approval").
At the time of the acquisition agreement, Prysmian said it anticipated that the deal would improve earnings per share by 10 to 12% within the first year following closing, excluding cost synergies and before related implementation costs. The $30.00 per share offer represents a premium of about 81% to General Cable's closing price of $16.55 per share on the last day of trading before General Cable announced its strategic review in July 2017 (see "Prysmian to pay $3 billion for General Cable").
Prysmian has quickly jumped to the integration phase of the acquisition, saying this morning that the combined company enjoyed sales of over €11 billion (pro-forma as of year-end 2017). The company will retain its Milan headquarters and currently has approximately 30,000 employees at 112 plants and 25 R&D centers in more than 50 countries. The addition of General Cable significantly boosts Prysmian's North American footprint. The region will now account for approximately a third of the group's sales. The North American head office will be in Highland Heights, KY; there are 23 plants in the region with about 5,800 employees.
The group will be organized around three areas: centralized functions, which aim to create a highly integrated company; the regions, including North America, which ensure proximity to the market; and the business areas of Energy, Telecom and Projects, which are responsible for product and cross-selling strategies. To manage the newly expanded enterprise, Prysmian says it has retained 450 managers worldwide.
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