The deal requires the approval of 75pc of voting Umeco shareholders at a
general meeting. However, Cytec has already secured irrevocable undertakings
from Umeco’s top three shareholders – BlackRock, Hermes and Aberforth – to
vote in favour of the deal. The shareholders represent 30.2pc of Umeco’s
shares.
Shame Fleming, chairman of Cytec, said: “We are excited about combining
Umeco with Cytec’s existing advanced composites businesses.
“It greatly improves our presence in the industrial sector, where we see
tremendous potential for significant value creation in applications like
automotive as customers seek to reduce weight and CO2 emissions.”
Analysts at Liberum capital said Cytec’s rival, Hexcel, could make a
counter-bid for Umeco. However, the analysts added: “The price is
fairly full and we doubt the [Umeco] directors would recommend the offer
unless all peers had been asked.”