A wave of dealmaking has come to Europe, and corporate boards aren’t sure what to do about it.
Listed European companies have received about $40 billion in takeover bids over the past three months, as everyone from Blackstone Inc. to Cinven hunts for bargains in the region’s depressed stock markets. In several cases, the target’s directors can’t decide whether minority shareholders are getting a good deal.
Online classifieds firm Adevinta ASA and medical diagnostics provider Synlab AG recently announced private equity offers which their boards believe don’t reflect their long-term value. Both of them took the unusual step of deciding not to make a formal recommendation on whether shareholders should accept, telling investors to take their own call.
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