• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Seagate to Acquire Controlling Interest in LaCie

Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
4,784 (1.06/day)
Location
Still on the East Side
Seagate Technology plc the worldwide leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, and LaCie S.A., a leading manufacturer of consumer storage products, today announced an exclusive agreement with the intent for Seagate to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie.

Seagate has offered to purchase from Philippe Spruch, LaCie's chairman and CEO, and his affiliate, all of their shares, representing 64.5% of the outstanding shares of LaCie. Following receipt of governmental approvals and the close of this transaction, Seagate would commence an all-cash simplified tender offer (followed as the case may be by a squeeze-out procedure) to acquire the remaining outstanding shares in accordance with the General Regulation of the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).



Seagate has offered Mr. Spruch and his affiliate €4.05 per share in cash, minus a potential adjustment depending on the cash and debt position of LaCie at closing. This price may be increased by a possible price supplement of 3% in the event that the threshold of 95% of the shares and voting rights of LaCie would be reached by Seagate within 6 months following closing, resulting in a maximum potential price per LaCie share of €4.17. Without the price supplement, the offer currently values LaCie at an approximate €146 million, or $186 million total equity value, including acquired net cash of approximately €49 million, or $65 million, as of March 31, 2012. The €4.05 per share price represents a premium of 29% to LaCie's average closing stock price over the 30 trading days ended May 22, 2012.

Ricol Lasteyrie & Associés was appointed today as independent expert by the board of directors of LaCie, to deliver a fairness opinion on the price that would be offered in the context of the tender offer, including in the perspective of a potential squeeze-out procedure.

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.

The transaction is expected to be neutral to Seagate's fiscal 2013 earnings per share.

Following the close of the sale of his shares to Seagate, Mr. Spruch would join Seagate and lead the company's consumer storage products organization. Reporting to him would be Patrick Connolly, who currently serves as vice president and general manager of Seagate's retail group, as well as Pierre van der Elst, who currently serves as deputy general manager of LaCie. The financial terms of the new position of Mr Spruch are not determined as of today and would therefore be described subsequently, including in the tender offer documentation.

"Seagate has a strong commitment to the growing consumer storage market and bringing the most dynamic products to market. LaCie has built an exceptional consumer brand by delivering exciting and innovative high-end products for many years. This transaction would bring a highly complementary set of capabilities to Seagate, significantly expand our consumer product offerings, add a premium-branded direct-attached storage line, strengthen our network-attached storage business line and enhance our capabilities in software development," said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO. "We are also excited that Philippe, who is a true visionary and leader in the consumer storage business, would join Seagate to run our consumer storage products organization."

"With the proliferation of devices and content being shared and stored today, consumer demand for high-quality branded storage solutions continues to grow," said Philippe Spruch, LaCie's chairman and CEO. "We are excited about the potential for this combination to benefit customers and employees by creating significant scale and opening up new markets. We look forward to making the resources of a much larger company available to our customers around the world."

LaCie will initiate the information and consultation process required by its employee representative council in relation to the contemplated transaction, in accordance with French law. Upon completion of this process, Seagate and Mr. Spruch would execute a definitive share purchase agreement and finalize the purchase of the controlling interest held by Mr. Spruch and his affiliate. This share purchase transaction is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2012 pending completion of the relevant governmental reviews. Seagate would then commence a tender offer for the remaining outstanding shares of LaCie (followed as the case may be by a squeeze-out procedure), subject to a clearance decision from the AMF. The tender offer is expected to be completed in the third calendar quarter of 2012.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in the United States (antitrust filing), France (approval of foreign investments by the Ministry of Finance) and other jurisdictions (antitrust filing in Germany) and to other customary closing conditions.

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisor and Allen & Overy LLP served as legal advisor to Seagate in connection with the transaction. De Pardieu Brocas Maffei A.A.R.P.I. served as legal advisor to LaCie.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

Completely Bonkers

New Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
2,576 (0.41/day)
Processor Mysterious Engineering Prototype
Motherboard Intel 865
Cooling Custom block made in workshop
Memory Corsair XMS 2GB
Video Card(s) FireGL X3-256
Display(s) 1600x1200 SyncMaster x 2 = 3200x1200
Software Windows 2003
I don't get it. Why would a huge company like Seagate be interested in a minor player (not "leading manufacturer") like LaCie. With a value of just €146 million it doesnt bring much to the table. Unless of course, there are other motivations behind the deal.

I think Philippe Spruch, LaCie's chairman and CEO, wants "out" due to Mr Francois Hollande and his new 75% tax rate for the wealthy. Mr Spruch, wants to leave France asap, and would gladly take up residence in the US (or other non-French jurisdiction) to join Seagate and lead the company's consumer storage products organization.

Well done Mr Spruch for a quick exit!
 

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
25,776 (3.79/day)
Location
Alabama
System Name Rocinante
Processor I9 14900KS
Motherboard EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory 64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s) MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage 1x 500GB 980 Pro | 1x 1TB 980 Pro | 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s) Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD Quest 3
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores I dont have time for that.
I don't get it. Why would a huge company like Seagate be interested in a minor player (not "leading manufacturer") like LaCie. With a value of just €146 million it doesnt bring much to the table. Unless of course, there are other motivations behind the deal.

I think Philippe Spruch, LaCie's chairman and CEO, wants "out" due to Mr Francois Hollande and his new 75% tax rate for the wealthy. Mr Spruch, wants to leave France asap, and would gladly take up residence in the US (or other non-French jurisdiction) to join Seagate and lead the company's consumer storage products organization.

Well done Mr Spruch for a quick exit!

I also believe this is a major motivator for it. I also think that maybe their are some small gems hidden in the deal. Perhaps they have a patent on some interesting tech that seagate wants to expand on.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
Messages
974 (0.18/day)
System Name Grond
Processor Ryen 5 3600x PBO ~ 4.4GHz / fabric at 1900
Motherboard MSI b550 Tomahawk
Cooling XSPC Raystorm CPU w/ am4 mounting bracket+ 2 RX360 radiator + xspc Razor R9-290 w/ backplate
Memory 32gb Crucial Ballistix @ 3800
Video Card(s) XFX R9 290 w/ XSPC Razor full cover block and backplate
Storage WD SN850 1tb-OS, SN750 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo 1tb, WD blue hdd 4tb
Display(s) Samsung 23" 120hz 3d LCD w/ 3d glasses, using 'lightboost' trick
Case NZXT H630 white watercooling case
Audio Device(s) Onboard realtek ALC 1200+ Sennheiser HD 598
Power Supply XFX Pro 850 XXX semi-modular
Mouse Logitech G703 Wireless
Keyboard Steelseries 6 v2
Software Windows 10 Pro (Had some mystery error on Win7 and decided to go W10)
Doesn't LaCie make overpriced products for the Mac platform? Maybe they want in on the easy money.
 

Frick

Fishfaced Nincompoop
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
18,914 (2.86/day)
Location
Piteå
System Name Black MC in Tokyo
Processor Ryzen 5 5600
Motherboard Asrock B450M-HDV
Cooling Be Quiet! Pure Rock 2
Memory 2 x 16GB Kingston Fury 3400mhz
Video Card(s) XFX 6950XT Speedster MERC 319
Storage Kingston A400 240GB | WD Black SN750 2TB |WD Blue 1TB x 2 | Toshiba P300 2TB | Seagate Expansion 8TB
Display(s) Samsung U32J590U 4K + BenQ GL2450HT 1080p
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) Line6 UX1 + some headphones, Nektar SE61 keyboard
Power Supply Corsair RM850x v3
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Cherry MX Board 1.0 TKL Brown
VR HMD Acer Mixed Reality Headset
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores Rimworld 4K ready!
Doesn't LaCie make overpriced products for the Mac platform? Maybe they want in on the easy money.

Naah, they have some affordable stuff.
 

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
28,472 (4.25/day)
Location
Indiana, USA
Processor Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory 32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s) RTX 2070 Super
Storage 500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s) Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s) Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software Windows 10 Pro x64
Any time you can eliminate competition, even minor competition, it is a good business move.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2009
Messages
974 (0.18/day)
System Name Grond
Processor Ryen 5 3600x PBO ~ 4.4GHz / fabric at 1900
Motherboard MSI b550 Tomahawk
Cooling XSPC Raystorm CPU w/ am4 mounting bracket+ 2 RX360 radiator + xspc Razor R9-290 w/ backplate
Memory 32gb Crucial Ballistix @ 3800
Video Card(s) XFX R9 290 w/ XSPC Razor full cover block and backplate
Storage WD SN850 1tb-OS, SN750 1tb, Samsung 860 Evo 1tb, WD blue hdd 4tb
Display(s) Samsung 23" 120hz 3d LCD w/ 3d glasses, using 'lightboost' trick
Case NZXT H630 white watercooling case
Audio Device(s) Onboard realtek ALC 1200+ Sennheiser HD 598
Power Supply XFX Pro 850 XXX semi-modular
Mouse Logitech G703 Wireless
Keyboard Steelseries 6 v2
Software Windows 10 Pro (Had some mystery error on Win7 and decided to go W10)
Seagate isn't that bad. They aren't top of the line either.
Maybe I just buy Seagate products that happen to come from good batches.
 

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
13,817 (2.21/day)
Location
Cheeseland (Wisconsin, USA)
My guess would be that Seagate wants a presence in more markets and LaCie probably has some IP they would like to own and exploit.

I haven't had any problems with Seagate drives either. I've got lots of them that have been running for years.
 
Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
324 (0.05/day)
Location
Bucharest ROMANIA
System Name Blue Monolith (working on name)
Processor AMD Phenom II 1090T... on H2O
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD7
Cooling EK-Supreme with 2 radiators for the moment ~ 22 celsius
Memory Kingston HyperX 2x2GB DDR3 1600mhz 8-8-8-24 KHX1600C8D3K2
Video Card(s) hd 6870 Sapphire 1GB
Storage 8x 500GB Seagate Barracuda on LSI controller
Display(s) Samsung 206BW
Case Aplus Black Pearl WCR with water cooling mounts :)
Audio Device(s) Creative X-FI Platinum Fatal1ty Champion
Power Supply Gigabyte ODIN GT-800 (that with software)
Software Windows 7 Ultimate
Benchmark Scores WORKING IN PROGRESS P10464 in VANTAGE(this is the old score)
so simple...

LaCie get the Wuala system for cloud storage, Seagate get LaCie and with that will have access to Wuala. Seagate in the past use some software for cloud storage. But now will have a new and secure storage platform.
 
Top