ROME: Pirelli & C. SpA’s biggest shareholder agreed to sell its stake to ChemChina in a deal that will lead to a takeover bid valuing the Italian tiremaker at about 7.1 billion euros ($7.7 billion).
State-owned ChemChina agreed to pay EUR15 a share for the 26.2% of Pirelli owned by Camfin, the companies said in a statement. ChemChina will then make a public tender offer for the rest of the tyre manufacturers at the same price.
The bid was below Friday’s closing price. Pirelli shares rose 2.2% to EUR15.56 euros at 9:20am in Milan, showing that some investors believe there may be a higher offer. Pirelli’s stock jumped to the highest level since early 2002. The purchase would be the biggest deal in Italy by a Chinese company and allow Beijing-based ChemChina to leap onto the international stage with Pirelli’s high-end car tyres.
