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May 15, 2007
Hoya and Pentax Continue Negotiations
Hoya has decided to continue talks with Pentax through the end of May in an attempt to salvage the earlier merger offer announced in 1Q07.
Should the talks fall through once more, Hoya is preparing to carry out a takeover bid in June. Through a clause negotiated previously, Pentax is also beholdened to honor a three month "healing period" through 31-August and must reject any competing bids offered by other companies during that time. Hoya will receive a USD25MM penalty fee for any violation of the agreement.
The negotiations have been complicated by the proposal of the majority shareholder in Pentax, HSBC Sparx, to restore two former company officers who were ousted after the inital merger talks with Hoya fell through. Pentax indicated the inital Hoya talks were conducted arbitrarily without board approval and re-appointment of the officers would add to further confusion as attempts to keep the merger on the table continued.
Posted by covey22 at May 15, 2007 6:16 PM