German contractor Hochtief A.G., the Essen-based firm now ranked as the world’s largest in revenue outside its home country, is considering a Sept. 16 buyout offer by Madrid-based construction giant Grupo ACS. The Spanish contractor, which is Hochtief’s largest shareholder with a nearly a 30% stake, has offered $72.70 per share for the rest, valued at about $3.5 billion (€2.7b).
Set at a level below Hochtief’s previous day’s closing price, the bid is “incredibly optimistic and very low,” says Olivia Peters, an equities analyst at MF Global, London. “Maybe they know something we don’t. They’ve had two members on the board. ” Marcelino Fernandes Verdes, president of the ACS construction division, and Angel Garcia Altozano, an ACS corporate general manager, are among those on the German firm’s board.