Seagate and LaCie Announce Details for the Acquisition of a Controlling Interest in LaCie
June 15, 2012 by Jim McCarthy 
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Seagate and LaCie today announced the signing of binding share purchase agreements for a controlling interest in LaCie. Read on for details.
Back on May 23rd, we told you about Seagate’s intention to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie. Here is what we told you:
Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) today announced their intent to acquire the shares of French storage concern LaCie (EuroNext: LAC) for between €4.05 and €4.17, depending on net debt levels at the closing date. The lower end of the range represents a premium of 29% over LaCie’s trading range for the last 30 days. The total transaction would be about €146 million/$186 million. Here is what the press release states as the rationale for the deal:
The transaction would combine two highly complementary product and technology portfolios, adding LaCie’s line of premium branded consumer storage solutions, network-attached storage solutions and software offerings to Seagate’s array of mainstream consumer storage products. The combination would accelerate Seagate’s growth strategy in the expanding consumer storage market, particularly in Europe and Japan, and add strong engineering and software development capabilities, as well as relationships with several key retailers.
Today, Seagate and LaCie announced that the deal had been finalized, with valuation between €4.05 and €4.17 per share, depending on debt levels at the closing date. Here is what Seagate announced today:
CUPERTINO, Calif. & PARIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Following their press release issued on May 23, 2012 announcing exclusive negotiations and the receipt on June 8, 2012 of the opinion of the employee representative body of LaCie S.A. (Euronext:LAC), Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX) and LaCie announced today that Seagate, Philippe Spruch, LaCie’s chairman and CEO, and his affiliate, have entered into a binding share purchase agreement to purchase all of the shares of Philippe Spruch and his affiliate, representing 64.5% of the outstanding shares of LaCie for a provisional price of €4.05 per share (as may be adjusted downwards depending on the cash and debt position of LaCie at closing). As previously announced, Ricol Lasteyrie & Associés have been appointed as independent expert by the Board of Directors of LaCie on June 23, 2012. The transaction has already received clearance from the US Antitrust Authorities but remains subject to regulatory approval in France (approval of foreign investments by the Ministry of Finance) and Germany (antitrust filing) and to other customary closing conditions.
Following the acquisition of the control of LaCie, Seagate will file an all-cash simplified tender offer on the remaining LaCie shares at a price of €4.05 (as potentially adjusted downwards as set forth above). This price shall be increased by 3% in the event that a squeeze-out procedure is implemented (as a result of the acquisition of 95% of the shares and voting rights), resulting in a maximum potential price per LaCie share of €4.17.
About Seagate
Seagate is the world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com.
About LaCie
With operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia, LaCie is the leading manufacturer of storage devices for PC, Apple, and Linux. LaCie has differentiated itself through sleek design and remarkable technical performance. Find out more about our products at www.lacie.com.
Seagate closed the day at $24.03, up $0.185, or 0.77% on the day. LaCie closed at €3.99, down €0.01 on the day.
Seagate Stock Quote LaCie Quote
