When Elliott’s After You, Don’t Give It Ammunition
Capgemini has handed tactical advantage to opponents of its deal to buy Altran Technologies.
If the cap fits.
Photographer: ERIC PIERMONT/AFPElliott Management Corp.’s activist attack on Capgemini SE’s lowly 3.6 billion euro ($4 billion) bid for rival IT consultancy Altran Technologies SA is getting help from an unusual source: the bidder. Capgemini’s recent statements about the deal may merely be an incentive for Altran shareholders to sit tight.
The target’s investors need to feel some fear if they’re to accept the 14 euros a share offer before it closes in late January. In particular, they need to be afraid that if they say no, Altran shares will fall a long way below the bid price. Such worries were already being eased by the fact that the market, and Altran’s peers, have climbed since the takeover was launched in June.