SAF Offers $495 Million for Haldex in Truck-Parts Combination

SAF-Holland SA has offered $495 million (4.2 billion kronor) to buy Haldex AB, a combination of truck-making suppliers that could help match mechanical parts with sensors and electronic components as big rigs increasingly link up to the internet.

SAF made a cash bid of about $11.11 for each share in the Swedish brakes and air suspension systems maker, a premium of 11% over the closing price before the proposal, the Luxembourg-based suitor said in a statement July 14. Haldex said it is considering the unsolicited offer and has also received a “credible nonbinding proposal” from a third party.

“Together, we’ll be able to offer a complete solution for many components,” Detlef Borghardt, CEO of SAF, said in the statement.

Trucking companies want to network big rigs together and use the resulting real-time data to reduce empty runs, better use employees’ time and improve road safety via driver-assistance systems such as convoys. At the same time, commercial vehicle makers’ earnings are under pressure amid fierce price competition in Europe and falling demand in the United States.

Haldex’s board will respond to SAF’s offer no later than two weeks before the Aug. 24 end of the acceptance period, the Stockholm-based company said in a statement. It hasn’t received the terms of the other offer, and there’s no certainty one will be made, Haldex said.

SAF’s proposal requires acceptance of 90% of Haldex shareholders.