Groupe Fnac acquisition of Darty

Overview:

• French electronics retailer Fnac made an offer to acquire the entire share capital of rival Darty Group for a figure reported to be in excess of €558 million. 
• Fnac was subject to a bidding war as South African retailer Steinhoff was also looking to invest in the company, but the offer has been accepted. 
• Fnac's final offer was 101p per share based on the closing prices on 29 September 2015. 
• Darty shareholders were entitled to receive 170p per share in cash for each Darty share or, for every 25 Darty shares would receive one new Fnac share.
• To finance the acquisition Fnac facilitated an €865 million finance package from Société Générale, Natixis and Crédit Agricole CIB. 
• In order to meet the demands of the competition authority the company was made to sell several of its retail outlets in the Paris area. 

John Crabb - Journalist