Tech manufacturer TT Electronics has accused shareholder DBay Advisors of having a “different agenda” in its decision not to back the firm’s planned £287m takeover.
TT Electronics, which has bases around the globe and employs more than 400 people in Bedlington, Northumberland said it had agreed a takeover approach by Swiss rival Cicor Technologies. Major investor DBay, however, which has a stake of around 16.5%, said it would vote against the 155p-a-share takeover, claiming it was “happy with the progress” TT Electronics is making and therefore would not be backing the sale.
In a stock market response to the takeover announcement, the shareholder said: "DBay is happy with the progress the business is currently making, and is therefore not supportive of the Acquisition. Accordingly, DBay does not intend to vote in favour of the scheme of arrangement at the court meeting, nor the resolutions to be proposed at TT Electronics’ general meeting, as further described in the Announcement. "
TT Electronics revealed today that DBay had made three takeover approaches for the firm in the past three months. The most recent was made on October 7 at 130p a share.
“Each of these proposals was unanimously rejected by the TT board,” TT said.
It added: “Against this background, the board of TT believes that DBay may in some respects have a different agenda to other TT shareholders. The board of TT remains focused on delivering maximum value for all shareholders and believes the Cicor offer is the best route to achieving this objective.”
The global provider of engineered electronics has bases in Asia, North America and nine sites around the Ƶ including its Woking headquarters. The Bedlington base, at Welwyn Electronics Park, was founded in 1937. Its other Ƶ sites include Barnstaple in Devon, Abercynon in South Wales, Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham.
The company saw the sudden departure of former chief executive Peter France in April as it also warned over the impact of US tariffs on profits, which it said at the time risked impacting its ability to keep operating.
It had also previously warned of difficulty in its US branch, with slumping demand for the components it produces and ongoing production issues at its factories.
