Reuters reports that Blackstone is in talks to sell their stake in Leica:
The investor has teamed up with an investment bank to work out strategic options for the company and has already held talks with several potential acquirers, the people said, adding no official auction process was underway.
“ACM has long-term goals with Leica Camera,” Leica Chairman and ACM managing director Andreas Kaufmann told Reuters, adding that his family’s definition of long-term was that of a 100-year horizon.
Potential buyers are Zeiss, a few Asian companies and private equity funds:
Zeiss is potentially interested in Leica Camera, but would only agree to a deal if it was able to secure a majority stake, the sources said.
Potential buyers include other family investors, they said, adding that Asian optics groups and private equity funds had also shown interest.
Last year, Chinese investor CDH expressed interest in buying Blackstone’s stake in Leica, but no deal materialized, one of the people said.
The latest Leica financials:
Leica is expected to report earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of roughly 70 million euros this year and may have a valuation of around 700 million euros ($828 million) in a potential deal, people close to the matter said.
Via Reuters
