n October 26, the Moroccan capital markets authority (AMMC) cleared the information note for the mandatory takeover bid on shares of Compagnie Miniere de Touissit (CMT), filed by Ayrad Group Limited, OSEAD Fund, Ayrad Maroc and the CIMR pension fund. The offer covers 611,898 shares at 2,217 dirhams each, a maximum of 1,356,577,866 dirhams, and will stay open from November 3 to 17 inclusive. It is mandatory because the pact between Ayrad and the Caisse Interprofessionnelle Marocaine de Retraite, in force since July 13, took the two partners, who hold 37.04 percent and 16.54 percent of the capital respectively, past the 40 percent voting-rights threshold.
The price did not come from nowhere: it is the equal-weighted average of two valuations the AMMC reviewed, 2,523 dirhams for the volume-weighted average share price over the twelve months before March 26, the date of the protocol between Ayrad and the CIMR, and 1,910 dirhams for the reference transaction, Ayrad’s indirect purchase of its 37.04 percent. Atlantic RE, AXA Assurance Maroc, the CDG and the RCAR have waived tendering their shares, which limits the offer to the 36.40 percent of the capital held by the other shareholders. The bidders do not plan to keep buying after the close and want CMT to remain listed in Casablanca. Once the offer closes on November 17, the company’s shareholder base will have taken its new shape, according to the shares tendered.
Photo: Lech Darski, CC BY-SA 4.0.
