Metair considers debt funding options for proposed TAB acquisition

25th June 2018 By: Anine Kilian - Contributing Editor Online

JSE-listed Metair and its advisers are assessing the most effective and efficient debt funding alternatives for settling the proposed €300-million purchase price for Tovarna Akumulatorskih Baterij (TAB), in Slovenia.

Metair earlier this month announced that it had submitted an indicative nonbinding offer to acquire TAB, with initial plans to raise equity funding to settle the purchase price.

However, Metair on Monday said that, given the recent decline in its share price, the equity funding alternative “may not be the most beneficial manner in which to further the objectives of the transaction”.

“The potential transaction is still in its early stages and is subject to a number of conditions, including satisfactory completion of a detailed full scope due diligence, negotiating the final terms of the potential transaction with the shareholders of TAB, and Metair securing the required financial and shareholder support,” the company said in a statement on Monday.

TAB owns aftermarket automotive battery manufacturing facilities in Slovenia and Macedonia and an aftermarket battery distribution network throughout Europe, as well as a global industrial battery business and an energy storage business.