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Sika Founders Get Personal in Takeover Battle (Correct) 2015-05-15 11:52:41.742 GMT
(Corrects to say board in first paragraph.)
By Zoe Schneeweiss and Andrew Noël (Bloomberg) -- The Burkard family, custodians of Swiss adhesives-maker Sika AG for more than 100 years, is suing three members of the board as they get personal in their fight to overcome resistance to their proposed sale of a controlling stake to Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA. Suits have been filed against Monika Ribar, Christoph Tobler and Ulrich Suter at courts local to where they live, with the family alleging they spent a “disproportionate” amount of money to fight the 2.7 billion francs ($3.1 billion) sale, the family’s spokesman Andreas Durisch said by phone. The family’s investment vehicle, Schenker-Winkler Holding, is considering additional lawsuits against other board members, Durisch said. The sudden decision by descendants of Sika founder Kasper Winkler to exit has spawned a deepening battle inside courtrooms and the media. It’s taking an increasingly acrimonious tone, with multiple actions between the family and Saint-Gobain on one side, and Sika management and high profile shareholders including Threadneedle Investments on the other. “This is about a legal question, but the board went much further and involved investment banks and started a PR campaign,” Durisch said. Sika’s management, led by Chairman Paul Haelg and Chief Executive Officer Jen Jenisch, along with minority investors left out of the deal, have taken umbrage at the transaction that would hand French glassmaker Saint-Gobain control of a competitor with just a 16 percent stake. They restricted the voting rights of the family from 52 percent to just 5 percent on key decisions. Outside of the courts, the next flash point will be an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting to be held in July, at the request of the Burkards. Urs Burkard struggled to win over the crowd at the annual meeting in April as he stood on the podium defending the family’s right to do what they want with their own stake. The Burkards did get to use their voting clout to stop the salaries of board members.
For Related News and Information: Sika Founders Will Stick to Plan to Sell Stake to Saint-Gobain Sika Drops in Legal Hangover From Investor Battle Over Takeover Sika Shackles Founding Family to Hinder Saint-Gobain Offer Top Stories: TOP <GO> For industrial news in Europe:TNI MAC EUROPE <GO>
To contact the reporters on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in Zurich at +41-44-2244146 or zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net; Andrew Noël in London at +44-20-3525-2304 or anoel@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Thiel at +44-20-3525-2814 or sthiel1@bloomberg.net John Bowker