NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Leucadia National Corporation (NYSE:LUK) (“Leucadia”) today announced
that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to sell 100% of
Leucadia’s wholly owned subsidiary, Conwed Plastics (“Conwed”), to
Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc., (NYSE:SWM) (“SWM”). Under the
terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in January 2017,
Leucadia will receive $295 million in cash at closing plus potential
earn-out payments over five years of up to $40 million in cash to the
extent the results of Conwed’s subsidiary, Filtrexx International,
exceed certain performance thresholds. As of September 30, 2016,
Leucadia’s net investment in Conwed was $104 million, of which $46
million was tangible book value. Leucadia estimates it will recognize a
pretax gain of approximately $175-185 million (excluding value
associated with the earn-out) upon the closing of this sale.
Rich Handler, Chief Executive Officer, and Brian Friedman, President of
Leucadia, stated: "Conwed has been a solid Leucadia business for over
thirty years; however, SWM approached us as a compelling buyer and we
agreed. We look forward to watching Conwed’s outstanding CEO, Chris
Hatzenbuhler, help propel Conwed to even greater heights under its new
partnership with SWM, and we want to take this opportunity to express
our most sincere thanks to Chris and the entire Conwed team for their
hard work and excellent performance.”
Headquartered in Minnesota, Conwed is the leading light-weight plastic
netting manufacturer in the world with more than forty-five years of
experience developing netting solutions to help its customers improve
their products in a wide range of industries. From agriculture,
automotive, building and construction and consumer products to
filtration, hygiene, medical and packaging applications, Conwed’s
netting portfolio provides essential performance functionalities.
About Leucadia
Leucadia National Corporation is a diversified holding company that
invests in a broad array of businesses. The Company’s financial services
businesses and investments include investment banking and capital
markets (Jefferies), asset management (Leucadia Asset Management),
foreign exchange trading services (FXCM), real estate (HomeFed),
commercial mortgage banking and servicing (Berkadia), and vehicle
finance (Foursight and Chrome). The Company’s merchant banking
businesses and investments include beef processing (National Beef), a
diversified holding company (HRG), oil and gas exploration and
production (Vitesse Energy and Juneau Energy), automobile dealerships
(Garcadia), manufacturing (Idaho Timber), telecommunication services in
Italy (Linkem), and a gold and silver mine (Golden Queen).
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and
other federal securities laws that are subject to the safe harbor
created by such laws and other legal protections. Caution should be
taken not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements
because actual results may differ materially from the results suggested
by these statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as
of the date of this presentation. We undertake no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise. In addition,
forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
our historical experience and present expectations or projections. These
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those described
in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2015 and those described
from time to time in our periodic and other reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tangible book value is a non-GAAP financial measure used by Leucadia
when reviewing each of our businesses and investments and may not be
comparable to non-GAAP measures used by other companies. We believe that
this information is useful to investors as it allows them to view our
businesses and investments through the eyes of management while
facilitating a comparison across historical periods. We define tangible
book value as shareholders’ equity less intangible assets, net and
goodwill. Our net investment (shareholders’ equity) in Conwed at
September 30, 2016 was $104 million, intangible assets, net and goodwill
totaled $58 million and tangible book value was $46 million.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161214006228/en/
Leucadia:
Laura Ulbrandt, (212) 460-1900
Source: Leucadia National Corporation