Vilmorin & cie: The seed specialist Vilmorin is about to leave the Stock Exchange

(BFM Bourse) – Limagrain, majority shareholder of the group, will launch a simplified takeover bid with a view to delisting the company. The price offered to minority shareholders of the seed company is 62.50 euros per share, a premium of 45.4% compared to the closing price on Thursday.

After Somfy and Groupe Flo this winter, a new company that is emblematic of French daily life is about to leave the stock market. Vilmorin should know its last moments on the Paris Stock Exchange, under the impetus of its majority shareholder who wishes “to find freedom in its strategic choices, in particular with regard to its seed activities”.

“The seed business, with its selection cycles, is part of a long time that does not necessarily correspond to the rhythm of the stock markets: in a very competitive market and an uncertain macroeconomic environment, the development of Vilmorin & Cie requires investments which will be more easily decided on and carried out as an unlisted company”, continues Limagrain.

Limagrain, which owns 71.22% of the capital of the world’s fourth largest seed company, will therefore launch a simplified takeover bid (OPAS) with the intention of delisting Vilmorin if the offer crosses the 90% threshold. capital.

The majority shareholder will offer a price of 62.60 euros per share, a premium of 45.4% over Thursday’s closing price of 43.05 euros per share. The OPAS represents “a premium of 36.5% compared to the volume-weighted average share price of the last 60 trading days”, underlines Limagrain in its press release. The offer values ​​Vilmorin & Cie at 1.43 billion euros for 100% of the capital.

The price offered to minority shareholders nevertheless remains lower than the 80 euros observed on the share at the start of 2018 or compared with its highest in 20 years at 115 euros.

A rating that is of little “usefulness”

Limagrain justifies this operation by the lack of interest presented by Vilmorin’s listing on the stock exchange, which has not appealed to the market since 2010. An argument which had also been mentioned by Manutan to justify its departure from the Paris Stock Exchange. “Given the current structure of Vilmorin & Cie’s shareholding and the low volume of exchanges, the listing is of little use for the company which has not appealed to the market since 2010”, indicates Limagrain.

The group’s board of directors welcomed the takeover bid, set up an ad hoc committee and appointed Finexsi as an independent expert to rule on the fairness of the offer.

Limagrain will launch its offer on June 22 for a period of two weeks. If the operation is crowned with success, Vilmorin will exit between mid-July and the beginning of August, according to the indicative timetable for the offer. Suspended on Friday after the announcement of this operation, the quotation of Vilmorin shares will resume on Tuesday May 2, 2023.

Vilmorin also announced on Friday a turnover of 1.4 billion over the first nine months of its staggered 2022-2023 financial year, up 20.9%. For the full year, the seed company expects like-for-like sales growth of at least 12% and a current operating margin of at least 8%.

Sabrina Sadgui – ©2023 BFM Bourse