Ludowici not worth the hassle as Weir withdraws offer

Engineering group Weir has officially lost the bidding war for Australian mining equipment Ludowici after withdrawing its offer on Tuesday morning.

Weir had been in a battle with Danish rival FLSmidth since January but had repeatedly been outbid. FLS's latest offer at A$11 per share, up from the initial A$7.92-a-share offer made on January 23rd, compares with Weir's A$10-a-share offer which it refused to increase.

The FTSE 100 firm had been unhappy with statements made by FLS after its first offer, saying that the company did not have the right to increase its original price. However, after having pleaded with the Australian Takeovers Panel to reject the offer, the Panel announced on Friday that it would allow it to proceed.

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As such, Weir has confirmed today that it will make no further offer and has withdrawn from bidding for Ludowici. Weir's A$10-a-share offer lapsed on March 1st.

"Whilst Ludowici represented an attractive opportunity to expand our market leading Australian business, our focus in any acquisition is to create value for Weir shareholders. A materially higher offer would not have met the rigorous financial criteria which we apply to all acquisitions," said Chief Executive Keith Cochrane.

BC