Pirelli & C. SpA chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera called on minority shareholders to accept ChemChina’s takeover offer for the Italian tire maker, describing the price as fair and saying a counteroffer would be detrimental.
Pirelli shares have traded above the 15 euro-per-share bid by ChemChina, which is just 4 percent above the price the day before talks became public.
UBS analyst David Lesne said Thursday that it’s “unclear” if the premium is enough to woo smaller investors, which could disrupt efforts to take the company private.
“There is no room to increase the price,” Tronchetti Provera said. “I don’t see an interest in third parties entering in this transaction.”
Tronchetti Provera also leads Pirelli’s biggest shareholder group, Cam Finanziaria SpA, which is teaming up with ChemChina on the bid.
The $8.1 billion offer led by the state-owned Chinese company, which makes tires, fertilizers and other chemicals, is designed to reposition Pirelli’s undersized truck-tire business by combining it with ChemChina’s Aeolus Tyres unit.
