Asslar, Germany 6/8/17; Maulburg, Germany 6/8/17—Pfeiffer Vacuum announced that only 0.27% of its shareholders accepted Busch’s unsolicited public tender offer for the company’s shares (see IBO 4/30/17), which expired June 1. The decision was in line with Pfeiffer Vacuum management’s recommendation to reject the offer. Busch announced that an additional acceptance period will expire June 22. “We continue to take a critical view of a possible attempt on the part of the Busch Group to seize disproportionately high representation on the Supervisory Board, or perhaps even the chair of Pfeiffer Vacuum’s Supervisory Board, because Busch’s acquisition of a controlling interest under these circumstances would not create value for our shareholders,” stated Pfeiffer Vacuum CEO Manfred Bender. “However, in order to identify the potential for creating added value in the interest of all shareholders, we will take emerging opportunities to engage in an open dialog with the Busch Group regarding the possibilities of operational cooperation and resultant synergies.” Sami Busch, a managing partner at Busch, commented, “With the voluntary tender offer, we have exceeded the important control threshold of 30% and are pleased to have further increased our stake.”

Because Busch’s stake now exceed 30%, it is allowed to purchase additional shares once the extended tender offer period expires, according to a Google translation of an article on Handelsblatt. However, doing so could mean paying a higher price per share than its most recent offer of €110.00 ($122.22 at €0.90 = $1). On June 24, Pfeiffer Vacuum shares closed at €132.60 ($147.33).