ACM sells 44% of this Leica shares to Blackstone

Tom A said:
One of the pieces of news I heard at LHSA in Pittsburgh last weekend is interesting. Leica is starting to produce MP's and M7's again! The demand for filmcameras, particularly in Asia has increased significantly and their inventory was depleted.
It turns out that one of the stumbling blocks was the slow shutter speed mechanism. The company that made it, no longer was able or willing to supply it. Leica had to learn how to do it themselves!
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Now if they'd bring back the M5.....
 
ACM's market capitalization today is about EUR300M, based on the value of Blackstone's stake. As a PE firm Blackstone is likely looking for a 4-5 year exit at a return between 10-20%. To get there, ACM's market capitalization will have to be roughly EUR500-600 to meet that return requirement, assuming willing buyers. There must be an interesting 5-year business plan on someone's desk ...

Leica's most valuable asset is an intangible, its branding. So I have to agree with others who've said that Leica will undertake substantial investment in marketing and distribution, not just production. Increasing the value of Leica's branding is likely to contribute to higher market cap more quickly than grinding out earnings (the old school way). Probably means a plan for rarefied boutiques in the most fashionable cities and boulevards, or something like it. I'd be shocked if Leica bought a sensor manufacturer or only upgraded/built production capacity.
 
veraikon said:
_ diagramm with the distribution of shares.
ACM (= Kaufmann) 53.66%
others 2.44%
BS (=Blackstone) 43.9
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111019_1839_56_21187566.jpg


(diagram from your link)

I was wondering about the distribution (why 44%?), but the point seems to be that it gives ACM/Kaufmann a buffer against the 2.44% minority shareholders, with whom he has a bad relationship ever since the attempted squeezeout. That way he can sell this buffer to somebody else as a counterweight, without losing majority himself. He probably has a deal with Blackstone that limits their resale options somewhat for the time being.

But quoting Fred, I admit to not really having a clue.
 
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veraikon said:
_ Leica will open the "new plant" in Portugal in 2012, the Wetzlar plant will opend in End of 2013
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interesting info veraikon. hmm new plant to Portugal? IIRC there is/was already something there? but still, now money makers sitting firmly in boat, would have expected new plant to SE Asia 😕
 
jarski said:
interesting info veraikon. hmm new plant to Portugal? IIRC there is/was already something there? but still, now money makers sitting firmly in boat, would have expected new plant to SE Asia 😕
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There is one in North Portugal (Villa Nova?) .
I think it won´t be a second - but like Solms-> Wetzlar, a "new" and greater facility.
The timeline (in 2012) shows that it was planed and build before BS entered....
 
some news I don´t understand:
Leica Camera AG: Veröffentlichung gemäß § 26 Abs. 1 WpHG mit dem Ziel der europaweiten Verbreitung Leica Camera AG 20.10.2011 15:54 Veröffentlichung einer Stimmrechtsmitteilung, übermittelt durch die DGAP - ein Unternehmen der EquityStory AG. Für den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent verantwortlich. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Die Lisa Germany Holding GmbH, Frankfurt, Deutschland hat uns gemäß § 21 Abs. 1 WpHG am 20.10.2011 mitgeteilt, dass ihr Stimmrechtsanteil an der Leica Camera AG, Solms, Deutschland am 19.10.2011 die Schwelle von 3%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 50% und 75% der Stimmrechte überschritten hat und an diesem Tag 97,56% (das entspricht 16096478 Stimmrechten) betragen hat. 20.10.2011 Die DGAP Distributionsservices umfassen gesetzliche Meldepflichten, Corporate News/Finanznachrichten und Pressemitteilungen.
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source Stuttgart stock exchange news service: https://www.boerse-stuttgart.de/de/factsheet/aktien/news.html?&sSymbol=LCA1.FSE

News 20.10.11 15:54

Lisa = BS ! , but why they are owning all votes (except these of the "free" share holders) ?
 
veraikon said:
some news I don´t understand:
source Stuttgart stock exchange news service: https://www.boerse-stuttgart.de/de/factsheet/aktien/news.html?&sSymbol=LCA1.FSE

News 20.10.11 15:54

Lisa = BS ! , but why they are owning all votes (except these of the "free" share holders) ?
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Lisa is the holding company through which BS is acting in this case.

I guess the answer to your question lies in the unknown agreement between Kaufmann and Blackstone. Under German securities law there are a number of cases where a party A can hold the "Stimmrechte" (= voting rights) corresponding to a number of shares, while the actual shares are owned by a party B. In this case, BS is A, while ACM is B, and the situation is that A holds 97.56% of the voting rights, while they own only 43.9% of the shares - the actual number is probably 7,250,000 shares, corresponding to 43.94%.

In Germany, these cases where this situation can arise are regulated by the Wertpapierhandelsgesetz ("Law on trade in securities"). In particular, A might not own the shares, but hold the right to obtain them from B by a simple declaration of intent (unlikely here); A might act as trustee for B; A might hold the shares as a paid service for the actual owner B, and so on.

In all of those cases, a change in whoever holds the voting rights requires a public declaration of who holds them after the change. This is, in German, called a Stimmrechtsmitteilung, which is what you have pasted here. See the corresponding Wikipedia article (in German, obviously) for an overview.
 
veraikon said:
"newest" news: ACM + BS wants to squeeze out the "free" (3%) shareholers: http://www.handelsblatt.com/finanze...l-von-der-boerse-genommen-werden/5801964.html http://www.mittelhessen.de/lokales/.../625114_Leica_wirft_Kleinaktionaere_raus.html
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From the second link:

mittelhessen.de said:
Even at the last general shareholders' meeting on August 12 in Wetzlar, Kaufmann had left the impression that he was ready to leave the small shareholders untouched. At that meeting, an 11-year-old girl named Ronja from Würzburg had delivered a passionate speech defending the small shareholders.

In her outstanding presentation, she told how her parents gave her some Leica stock as a gift, that because of this she saw herself as a long-term investor and that because of this she wished for Leica to remain listed at the stock exchange. According to her, the example of Audi shows that even a small amount of stocks held by small-scale shareholders could serve to improve corporate culture and communication. "Therefore I would wish for you as the majority shareholder, Mr. Kaufmann, to refrain from a squeeze-out of the small-scale shareholders", she spoke into the microphone.

Kaufmann declared that he no longer had this intent, even though from a strictly legal point of view it remained an option. [...]

Kaufmann invited 11-year-old Ronja together with her parents to visit the factory, in order for her to get know the company, of which she owns a small part, and in order to improve the link between Leica and its shareholders. The company even wanted to shoot a video with the young shareholder.

Last night, the company refused to answer the question whether Ronya's proposed visit and the improved contact with the shareholders had already happened. "No comment" was the only answer; information requests were forwarded to an external communications agency. There, however, little Ronja was entirely unknown. [...]

Even on 19 November, that is 16 days ago, Kaufmann had used the occasion of Blackstone's purchase of Leica stock to declare, regarding the squeeze out: "Currently there are no such plans."

(http://www.mittelhessen.de/lokales/.../625114_Leica_wirft_Kleinaktionaere_raus.html)
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Way to go, Leica - invite your 11-year-old shareholders to the company for good PR, squeeze them out a few weeks later!

It looks like what is happening now can be described by the following options:

[_] Andreas Kaufmann has finally decided to be xxxx.
[_] Blackstone culture starts to manifest itself.
[_] All of the above.
 
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