(News Bulletin 247) – The company, which has been on the Paris Stock Exchange since 2017, will be the subject of a public takeover bid by the Japanese company at a price of 85 cents per share, i.e. a premium of 57% per share. relative to the last quoted price.

Almost six years to the day after its listing on the Paris Stock Exchange, Balyo has sealed an agreement which probably marks the end of its stock market adventure. But with a final positive note.

The group created in 2005 by two engineers passionate about robotics announced on Wednesday evening that it had reached an agreement with a 100% subsidiary of the Japanese giant Softbank – present in telephony, internet services but also robotics with its famous robot Pepper – which will allow the Japanese company to buy the tricolor group via a public takeover bid.

This friendly takeover bid, since it is supported by Balyo’s board of directors, will be priced at 85 centimes per share, which represents a premium of 57.4% compared to the last price of the French group specializing in the transformation of handling in autonomous robots, June 12. The action had indeed been suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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An exit from the planned rating

Softbank has received commitments to contribute to the offer, including that of the public bank Bpifrance and certain shareholders of Balyo, representing just over 41% of the capital. According to the indicative timetable, the offer would be completed during the last quarter of 2023.

The Japanese group has established the waiver threshold for its offer at 66.67% of the capital and voting rights and plans to delist the company if the regulatory conditions are met (i.e. crossing the threshold of 90% of the capital ).

“With its portfolio of forklift robotization technologies, Balyo is complementary to SoftBank’s existing investments in the transportation and logistics sectors,” Balyo said in a statement.

“This acquisition will also provide Balyo with access to SoftBank’s global network of more than 470 technology-focused companies to develop new business relationships for the benefit of both parties.”

Stock jump

On the Paris Stock Exchange, Balyo shares jumped 50% to 81.2 cents, approaching the price of Softbank’s takeover bid. This allows the title to show an increase of 100% over 2023. The action remains however very much below its 2017 introductory price, of 4.11 euros.

The future takeover of Balyo is like a breath of fresh air for the company, which lost 1.9 million euros in 2021 then 4.6 million in 2022 for a turnover of 24.1 million. past year. Its cash had melted by 2 million euros over one year to settle at 8.2 million euros at the end of December.

The company had thus indicated when publishing its 2022 annual results, at the end of March, that it was studying “several strategic options and additional financing, in order to extend its cash horizon to finance the development of its activities and in particular, the growth in direct sales.