A group of Gehl shareholders headed by Texas billionaire Harold Simmons asked Gehl management, in a regulatory filing, to reconsider a buyout offer the company recently spurned.
In September, the West Bend, Wis., company rejected a written proposal submitted by Simmons' investment group, CIC Equity Partners, and an unnamed partner to perform due diligence, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's third-quarter profit fell 96 percent while net sales dropped 23 percent.
Simmons, who's on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, is chairman and CEO of Valhi, a diversified holding company with chemical, metal and waste interests. He heads a group that owns 346,000 common shares of Gehl, representing a 6.3 percent stake. The investment group said it believes Gehl's stock is undervalued and will continue to be in the near future.
The original buyout offer was presented Aug. 31, according to SEC documents. The written proposal cited a willingness to pay a "substantial premium" to Gehl's share price at that time. The investors said they might purchase additional shares, possibly through a tender offer, or might seek control of Gehl's board.
Heartland Advisors, a Milwaukee-based investment firm that owns a 7.4 percent stake in Gehl, recently urged Gehl to hire a financial adviser to evaluate its options, predicting that the manufacturer's profit will continue to fall because of competitive pressures. "The opportunity cost to shareholders over the past year due to lack of decisive leadership on the part of the company's board has been enormous," Heartland officials stated in documents filed with the SEC.
