Rexel – Rexel Board of Directors rejects an unsolicited preliminary proposal from QXO
REXEL
Rexel confirms it has received earlier this week an unsolicited, non-binding preliminary proposal from QXO regarding a potential acquisition of Rexel at an indicative price of €28.00 to €28.40 per share.
Rexel’s Board of Directors has reviewed the proposal in detail and has unanimously decided not to pursue it, considering that it significantly undervalues the company and does not reflect its value creation potential through its Power Up 25 strategic plan. The Board of Directors remains highly confident in Rexel’s management to deliver the mid-term objectives presented in during the June 2024 Capital Markets Day. Indeed, Rexel’s management team has successfully demonstrated over the last few years its ability to increase the company’s underlying profitability and enhance its growth profile in an accelerating electrification world.
Rexel does not intend to make any additional comments on this proposal.
Reuters:
Sept 15 (Reuters) – QXO (QXO.O), the company billionaire Brad Jacobs is seeking to launch into building services, recently made an offer of around $9.4 billion to acquire Rexel (RXL.PA), that the French company on Sunday said it had rebuffed.
QXO’s preliminary offer of as much as 28.40 euros a share “significantly undervalues the company and does not reflect its value creation potential through its Power Up 25 strategic plan,” Rexel said in statement on Sunday.
The deal totaled 8.46 billion euros ($9.37 billion). Reuters earlier reported on the offer and Rexel’s rejection.
QXO is not currently planning to submit an improved bid, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Shares of Paris-listed Rexel, which distributes electrical parts to the buildings sector, closed at 22.97 euros on Friday, giving the company a market value of nearly 11 billion euros, including debt.
The approach marks the first major takeover attempt by QXO since its chairman Jacobs has sought to use the vehicle to buy companies in the sector. It would also have marked one of the largest foreign takeover attempts in France in recent years. QXO, which has a market value of $6 billion, in July said it raised funds that bolstered cash on hand to about $5 billion and said the company was debt free, giving it firepower to pursue deals for expansion.
Connecticut-based QXO, formerly SilverSun Technologies, has held talks with Rexel and its biggest shareholder, Cevian Capital, about a possible takeover, the sources said. Cevian owns 22.9% of Rexel, according to LSEG data.
In July, QXO raised $620 million through a private placement and added Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump, to its board of directors.
Its shares have gyrated over the last year to reach as high as $290 as the investment vehicle took shape. The shares closed at $14.70 on Friday.
The company also recently hired former Barclays global head of M&A Ihsan Essaid as its chief financial officer.
Rexel’s shares have dropped about 20% since touching a high on May 27 after reporting lower-than-expected topline figures for the second quarter.
“The Board of Directors remains highly confident in Rexel’s management to deliver the mid-term objectives presented,” the company said in the statement.
($1 = 0.9029 euros)
SourceReuters – Rexel
EMR Analysis
More information on Rexel: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Agnès Touraine (Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, Member of the Audit and Risk Committee, of the Nomination, Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Committees and of the Compensation Committee, Rexel): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Guillaume Texier (Chief Executive Officer, Rexel): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Laurent Delabarre (Group Chief Financial Officer, Leading China-India Cluster, Rexel): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on Rexel PowerUp 2025 Strategic Plan: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services
More information on QXO: https://www.qxo.com/ + QXO provides technology solutions, primarily to clients in the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors. The company provides consulting and professional services, specialized programming, training and technical support. As a value-added reseller of business application software, QXO offers solutions for accounting, financial reporting, enterprise resource planning, warehouse management systems, customer relationship management, business intelligence and other applications. Additionally, QXO develops and publishes its own proprietary software.
QXO plans to become a tech-forward leader in the $800 billion building products distribution industry, with the goal of generating outsized shareholder value. The company is targeting tens of billions of dollars of annual revenue in the next decade through accretive acquisitions and organic growth.
More information on Brad Jacobs (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, QXO): https://www.qxo.com/team + https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradjacobsqxo/
More information on Jared Kushner (Member of the Board of Directors, QXO + Founder, Affinity Partners): https://www.qxo.com/team + https://affinitypartners.com/
More information on Ihsan Essaid (Chief Financial Officer, QXO): https://www.qxo.com/team + https://www.linkedin.com/in/ihsan-essaid-942b22b/
More information on Cevian Capital: https://cevian.com/ + Proactive, hands-on ownership designed to make companies better and more valuable.
Cevian acquires significant minority ownership positions in European public companies, and works as an owner to advance long-term and sustainable value creation.
Cevian has executed the same strategy since it was founded by Lars Förberg and Christer Gardell in 2002. Its investment and active ownership work benefits from the experience, expertise, networks and relationships built-up over more than 20 years.
Cevian invests long-term capital provided primarily by pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, large family offices, and Cevian’s own partners.
More information on Lars Förberg (Co-founder and Managing Partner, Cevian Capital): https://cevian.com/
More information on Christer Gardell (Co-founder and Managing Partner, Cevian Capital): https://cevian.com/
More information on Reuters: https://www.reutersagency.com/en/ + With unmatched coverage in over 16 languages, and reaching billions of people worldwide every day, we provide trusted intelligence that powers humans and machines to make smart decisions. Founded in 1851, Reuters has remained true to the Trust Principles of independence, integrity and freedom from bias, working relentlessly to bring news from the source and from every corner of the world.
More information on Paul Bascobert (President, Reuters): https://www.reutersagency.com/en/about/leadership-team/ + https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-bascobert-6285761/
EMR Additional Financial Notes:
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- The Rexel Second Quarter Sales and Half-Year 2024 Results can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/finance/documentation/
- The Rexel First Half 2024 Financial Report can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/finance/documentation/
- The Rexel Capital Market Days Presentation from the 7th of June 2024 can be found here: https://assets.main.pro2.maf.media-server.com/d23b5b2ba2184959bd5a6965dd3fd1b5/20240607_-_Powering_Up_Rexel_to_the_next_level.pdf
- The Rexel 2023 Universal Registration Document can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/finance/documentation/?oo_filter_category=60&oo_filter_year=Year+of+publication&oo_filter=investors-publications
- The Rexel Q4 2023 and Full-Year 2023 Results Presentation can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/finance/documentation/
- The Rexel 2022 Universal Registration Document can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/finance/documentation/?oo_filter_category=60&oo_filter_year=Year+of+publication&oo_filter=investors-publications
- The Rexel FY 2022 Financial Statements and Consolidated Results can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/finance/documentation/
- The Rexel 2022 Capital Markets Presentation can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/medias/events/fourth-quarter-sales-and-full-year-2022-results/
- The Rexel 2021 Universal Registration Document can be found here: https://www.rexel.com/en/finance/documentation/?oo_filter_category=60&oo_filter_year=Year+of+publication&oo_filter=investors-publications