Axiall Corp AXLL shares have appreciated 82 percent over the past four months, as compared to the 8 percent rise for the overall market.
JPMorgan’s Jeffrey J. Zekauskas downgraded the rating on the company from Overweight to Neutral, while raising the price target from $26.50 to $33.00.
Westlake Chemical Corporation WLK made its initial bid of $20 in cash and stock for Axiall in the beginning of February 2016.
The Westlake Bid
“We believed that Westlake was a serious bidder for Axiall based on previous efforts in 2012 to acquire the entity,” Zekauskas stated.
The analyst expected Westlake to increase its bid, given the significant synergies the combined entity offered.
Westlake announced in mid-February it intended to nominate 10 independent board members to Axiall’s board at the latter company’s 2016 annual meeting.
Revised Bid
On April 1, Westlake made a revised offer of $23.35 or a total of $3.1 billion, including net debt and other liabilities.
According to the JPMorgan report, “On June 6, a Korean newspaper reported that Axiall’s joint venture partner Lotte made a bid to acquire Axiall in an all cash transaction, for a value similar to WLK's $23.35 offer.”
On June 10, Axiall and Westlake announced they had entered into an agreement for the former to be acquired by the latter for $33 per share in cash or a total of $3.8 billion, including net debt and other liabilities.
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