#seagate acquires lacie

Seagate Technology and LaCie S.A., has just announced an exclusive agreement with the intent for Seagate to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie. (Euronext: LAC), 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Read more in our articles including "Seagate to buy Lacie, HDD market consolidates" and "Seagate Seven Unveiled, 7mm-thin Portable Hard Drive".