Pelikan ... Apr10

Pelikan International Corp Bhd, which had proposed to take over Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed Herlitz AG, managed to secured only an additional 3.38% or 368,611 shares, when the offer closed on Tuesday, April 6 2010.

Including the Herlitz shares acquired pursuant to the proposed acquisition, Pelikan owns 7.56 million shares or 69.37% of Herlitz. Accordingly, the proposals are deemed completed.

To recap, in early November 2009, Pelikan signed a deal with Stationery Products SARL, a unit of Advent International, to acquire a 66% stake in Herlitz together with a Falkensee Logistics Centre for €45 million (RM228 million) cash.

Pelikan was also obliged to make a voluntary general offer (VGO) for the 34% stake in Herlitz its does not own.

The price would be determined based on Herlitz’s three-month average weighted share price, which was around €1.85 per share. This meant that a successful VGO would result in an additional €7 million, which would bring the final price tag to €52 million.

Pelikan had expected to see cost savings of over RM100 million from its proposed acquisition of Herlitz AG enroute to achieving its target of €1billion (RM5.06 billion) in turnover in 2012.

Pelikan is a manufacturer and distributor of writing instruments, school stationery, art and hobby products, office supplies and printer consumables.