ChemChina to launch tender offer for remaining shares in Italian tyremaker Pirelli

China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) yesterday said that it would launch a mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares in Italian tyremaker Pirelli as part of the €7.1- billion ($7.7 billion) deal struck between the two companies in March.

In March ChemChina struck a deal to buy Pirelli, in the biggest deal so far carried out by a Chinese company in Italy (See: ChemChina seals deal to buy Italian tyremaker Pirelli for $7.7 bn).

Marco Polo Industrial Holding, an investment vehicle created by ChemChina for the takeover, yesterday concluded the first part of the deal by acquiring a 26-per cent stake in Pirelli from Italian investment company Camfin S.p.A. for €15 per share, triggering the mandatory takeover bid.

Camfin is 50-per cent owned by Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft, and the rest by Pirelli chairman and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera, Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, while State-owned ChemChina holds a 65 per cent stake in Marco Polo, and the remaining with Camfin investors.

Marco Polo will launch the tender offer at €15 per share to acquire the rest of Pirelli and de-list the company from the Milan stock exchange. Marco Polo will also launch a voluntary tender offer on Pirelli's savings shares.

Tronchetti Provera said Camfin would invest more than €1 billion in the tender offer and will keep a central role in the tyremaker's future shareholder structure, along with ChemChina.

Milan-based Pirelli is the world's fifth-largest tyre manufacturer behind Bridgestone, Michelin, Continental, and Goodyear. It has 19 manufacturing sites worldwide and is present in over 160 countries.