*CASCADE, GATES ASK BURKARD TO REIMBURSE SIKA FOR DAMAGES
*CASCADE, GATES FOUNDATION SAY BURKARD BREACHED DIRECTORS DUTIES
Sika AG shareholders Cascade Investment LLC and the Bill & Gates Foundation Trust ramped up their efforts to block members of the founding Burkard family from selling their stake in the Swiss chemicalmaker to competitor Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA for about $3 billion.
The two investors are suing board director Urs Burkard for his part in the proposed transaction, Cascade and the Foundation Trust said in a statement Monday. In negotiating the sale of the family’s 16 percent stake with majority voting rights to Saint-Gobain, he failed in his duty to act in the best interests of Sika, they said.
Cascade and the Foundation Trust’s lawsuit will be an unwelcome sign for the Burkards that the minority investors are committed to fighting the deal that hands just the family an 80 percent premium for their holding. Saint-Gobain and the family already had to extend the deadline for completing the transaction to mid-2016.
The transaction was negotiated in secret, prompting a backlash from investors including Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. and Threadneedle. Cascade and the Foundation Trust have asked Swiss courts to review the conduct of Burkard, the architect of the deal, for any breach of duties as a director and any damages to be reimbursed to the company.