Nikon Corporation has announced the completion of its acquisition of SLM Solutions just over four months after the deal was first announced.
On Friday January 20th, Nikon disclosed that all closing conditions for the voluntary public takeover offer and the parallel voluntary tender offer for the acquisition of all convertible bonds issued by SLM and due in 2026 had been fulfilled.
The settlement of the Takeover Offer and the Bonds Offer will be effectuated by January 27th, 2023 at the latest.
Read more: Explained: Why Nikon is acquiring SLM Solutions
Toshikazu Umatate, CEO of Nikon, commented: “We are very pleased that our transaction has progressed successfully, and we are looking forward to partnering with SLM. We value SLM’s capabilities in the metal additive manufacturing space, and together we can provide holistic solutions at an accelerated pace to customers in a variety of industries around the world. We look forward to enhancing and growing our digital manufacturing business, which we are confident will lead to a revolution in global mass-production.”
Sam O’Leary, CEO of SLM, added: “With its deep expertise in developing cutting-edge opto-electronic technology and precision equipment, Nikon is the perfect partner for SLM. Together with Nikon, we will further strengthen our leading position in integrated metal additive manufacturing through consistently raising the bar in this innovation-centric environment. We have demonstrated the relevance of our technology to every major industry, and with Nikon we are confident we will expand our customer base even further.”
Nikon first announced its intention to acquire SLM Solutions in September 2022, with the companies providing more details in this explainer article published by TCT in October. At Formnext, the two companies held a joint press conference to preview what was to come from the business combination, while Nikon announced in late November that it had secured 92.38% of SLM shares by the end of the Additional Acceptance Period it provided to shareholders. This will give Nikon the opportunity to delist SLM from the stock exchange.
A Notice of Implementation of Settlement published by Nikon on January 20, 2023 stated:
“After the settlement of the Takeover Offer and the Bonds Offer, Nikon may consider whether to initiate, cause, or procure a delisting of the listed SLM shares, to the extent commercially reasonable and permissible under the market conditions. SLM's management board has entered into an investment agreement, whereby SLM is required to delist if requested by Nikon. The impact of the Takeover Offer and the Bonds Offer on the earnings estimates for the fiscal year ending March 2023 is currently being examined. Nikon will promptly disclose any revision to performance forecasts that becomes necessary or any matter that should be disclosed.”
