By Neil MacLucas
ZURICH--The founding family of Swiss construction chemicals
maker Sika AG has called for an extraordinary general meeting to
remove senior executives who object to its proposed sale of the
company to French building-materials group Compagnie de
Saint-Gobain SA.
Zurich-based Sika said that Schenker-Winkler Holding AG, a
holding company owned by members of the Burkard family, wants to
remove Sika Chairman Paul Hälg, as well as board members Monika
Ribar and Daniel Sauter. Schenker-Winkler owns 16.1% of Sika's
share capital but controls 52.4% of the company's voting
rights.
Schenker-Winkler has proposed replacing Mr. Hälg with Max Roesle
and appointing Chris Tanner as an additional board member, Sika
said. The board will consider the request, Sika said.
Schenker-Winkler wasn't immediately available for comment.
The call for a shareholder meeting is the latest development in
a takeover battle that erupted on Monday, when Saint-Gobain said it
had agreed to pay 2.75 billion Swiss francs ($2.8 billion) in cash
for the family's stake, part of the French group's attempt to
kick-start earnings growth. The deal prompted a fierce response
from Sika's management, which said it hadn't been consulted on the
sale.
Sika's board said it didn't see the logic of the sale and warned
"shareholder value would be impaired."
The shares fell 22% on Monday after news of the proposed
transaction and a further 3.7% on Tuesday, leaving them 7.9% lower
this year.
Sika, with annual sales of more than 5.14 billion Swiss francs,
supplies a range of additives for concrete and cement. It also
makes waterproofing products for the building sector and
noise-damping products for automobile makers.
Write to Neil MacLucas at neil.maclucas@wsj.com
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