Tokheim has postponed plans to sell the business to a new owner. The company’s private equity owner, RLPC-Cognetas, which acquired Tokheim in 2005, has withdrawn from the current process due to worsening conditions in the international financial markets.
A statement issued by company President Patrick Berthon and CEO Baudouin de la Tour confirmed that no transaction would go ahead. “In the last 3 months, Tokheim and its shareholders, advised by J.P. Morgan, carried out a strategic review that led to launching a refinancing process and a possible sale of the company. As several investors expressed interest and discussions with various banks showed that there was enough appetite to finance it, a decision was made to proceed with the sale,” said the statement.
“Nevertheless, in the last few weeks, a worsening environment in the financial markets led certain banks to pull out for reasons unrelated to the company. Even if there was a firm funding commitment from the remaining group of banks, it became apparent that the financial environment would negatively affect the sale process. Cognetas received final offers but considered that they did not fully reflect the company’s continued excellent performance and its prospects for the future.” The company added that, given its strong trading performance, a sale would not be in shareholder interests at this time.
Since Cognetas acquired Tokheim for roughly €250m, revenues have grown significantly. From sales of €360m in the year to April 2005, Tokheim achieved €590m worth of sales in the twelve months to April 2011.
PetrolWorld 14122011
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