Image source: Ferro Corporation.
What: Shares of specialty chemicals manufacturer Ferro Corporation (FOE) are down more than 11% as of 12:30 p.m. EDT after the company rejected offers from private equity companies Apollo Global Management and CVC Capital Partners.
So What: On Friday, Ferro's management announced that it was rejecting Apollo's and CVC's deals, which were below the company's trading price of around $14 at the time, saying that it thinks the offers are too low and that there are better alternative opportunities out there. For a few months now, the company has been exploring strategic alternatives, which is a veiled way of saying that it wants to sell.
The hope here is that Apollo and CVC will up their bids, but based on the reaction from Wall Street, shareholders would much rather take the money and run, as shares are now trading well below $14.
Now What: Ferro hasn't been a well-performing stock for quite some time now. It doesn't help that the company is saddled with a rather high debt load that sucks up a decent chunk of operational earnings. Time will only tell if Apollo and CVC actually want to up their bids. Chances are they gave their valuation for a reason, and Wall Street's reaction suggests that management isn't going to get a better deal any time soon. By no means should anyone buy this stock with the hopes that the private-equity people will up their bids. Based on the company's performance over the years, it's hard to find a reason to buy the stock in the first place.
