The American fund Squared Capital is preparing, through a British subsidiary, a takeover bid for the Spanish leader in ITV and industrial tests, Applus, for more than 1,000 million euros together with other investment firms managed by TDR Capital, it has indicated today to the CNMV.
Based in Miami, Squared Capital is founded and directed by Sadek Wahba, an American investor of Egyptian origin from Morgan Stanley whom Joe Biden has appointed as an advisor to the US National Infrastructure Council.
Its investments are focused on sectors such as industry, energy, transport and telecommunications, and are articulated through a fund closed in 2018 with more than 7,000 million dollars. It has its sights set on North America and Europe.
Both Squared and the firms that accompany it “have had access to certain information provided by Applus” and for the moment “only preparatory actions have been carried out”, without having taken “any decision regarding the formulation of any offer on the terms and conditions of said potential offer”.
If finally formulated, this takeover bid would be the second for a listed Spanish company in a few days. Last week, the French fund Antin, through the firm CE Bidco, launched a takeover bid on Opdenergy for 866 million euros with a premium of 46% compared to the listing price.
Applus shares have been rising strongly for some time, since the interest of different investors in launching an offer on the company became known. Its stock market value is 1,235 million euros, after having appreciated 45% since the beginning of the year.
It has been precisely these approaches that have raised the price of the company’s shares, which had been complaining for some time that the market did not properly reflect its real value.
Initially, Applus received signs of interest from firms such as the British giant Apax and the American Apollo, who were studying offers in parallel.
The Spanish company invoices more than 2,000 million euros a year and has very fragmented capital. The US bank Morgan Stanley, with 5.3%, is the main shareholder of Applus, ahead of Southeastern Asset Management, which has 5.1%, or DWS, which declares 3.8%. Santander, with 3%, is the leading Spanish shareholder, according to the records of the CNMV.
Applus has been listed on the stock market for almost ten years, after the Carlyle investment fund decided to sell it through an IPO. If this operation is launched, it would be the largest so far this year in Spain.
