The Board of Directors of Kongsberg Gruppen (KONGSBERG) decided unanimously at an extraordinary meeting to reject the Swedish private equity company Nordic Capital's conditional NOK 3.3 billion bid for Kongsberg Maritime.
"The Board does not consider it prudent in either financial or industrial terms to sell the Group's maritime business, meaning it would not be in the best interests of the shareholders to accept the bid from Nordic Capital", comments Chairman of the Board Christian Brinch. The Board commissioned Fondsfinans and UBS to act as external advisers to evaluate the bid.
Over the past 12 years, KONGSBERG has conscientiously built up a civilian maritime business in addition to its defence activities. The aim has been to achieve better commercial exploitation of the Group's pool of technical expertise, and to reduce its dependence on the defence market. There is considerable coherence between the two business areas in terms of both technology and competence. An international technology corporation's size in the market is of great value in both these areas. The Board is of the opinion that KONGSBERG is well positioned for further development in the value of its shareholders' assets.
The Board strives continuously to develop the Group's strategy, emphasising structure and growth opportunities. KONGSBERG's strategy will be reviewed at its long-planned Capital Market Day on 17 November.
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For further information, please contact: Chief Executive Officer Jan Erik Korssjøen, tel. 47 920 60 000 Vice President Corporate Communications Tom Røren, tel. 47 920 60 004