Archive for the ‘Industrial Stocks’ Category

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Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (ALTI) spikes on Canon pact

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (NASDAQ: ALTI) shares jumped 29.6% Monday morning to $1.40, after the company today announced it had closed on a Share Subscription Agreement with Canon Investment Holdings Limited (Canon), through its affiliate, Energy Storage Technology (China) Group Limited (EST). Volume for Altair stock was 2.7 million shares, compared to a daily average of just over 225,000.

A news release put out on July 25 spelled out that, under the terms of the agreement, Altairnano issued 37,036,807 common shares to EST at $1.5528 per share, providing $57.5 million in proceeds to Altairnano. Following the closing of this transaction, there are 69,452,487 Altairnano common shares outstanding.

On September 20, 2010, Altairnano announced that it had entered into the Share Subscription Agreement, as amended, under which Canon had agreed to purchase newly issued common shares of Altairnano, which resulted in EST owning 53.3% of Altairnano’s common shares, 49.8% on a fully diluted basis, immediately following the closing.

“While this transaction took considerably longer to close than expected, the Canon investment allows us to now focus on growing the business and creating shareholder wealth,” said Terry Copeland, Altairnano president and Chief Executive Officer.

Headquartered in Reno, Nev. with manufacturing in Anderson, Ind., Altairnano is a leading provider of energy storage systems for clean, efficient power and energy management. Altairnano’s nano lithium-ion titanate-based solutions are among the highest performing and most scalable, with applications that include complete energy storage systems for frequency regulation and renewables integration for the electric grid, and battery modules and cells for transportation and industrial applications.

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SFN Group Inc. (SFN) being taken over, stock zooms

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

SFN Group Inc. (NYSE: SFN) shares shot up 51% to $13.93. Late Wednesday, the staffing-services provider and Dutch company Randstad Holding NV said the latter would acquire the former for about $770 million. Volume on SFN was 12.4 million shares, contrasted with a daily average of less than 570,000.

As a result of the acquisition, announced in a news release Wednesday, Randstad will become the third-largest HR services provider in North America, doubling its presence in the U.S. and reinforcing its leading position in Canada. Randstad and SFN Group have a comparable service offering in North America and a complementary geographic coverage, which creates a unique strategic fit.

In North America, the combination will have revenues of $4.6 billion (pro forma, LTM March 31, 2011) of which 39% in Professionals, 52% in Staffing and 9% in HR Solutions (Payrolling, Managed Services and Recruitment Process Outsourcing).

This represents under 5% of the highly fragmented North American HR Services market. The combination will have over 5,000 employees and operate from over 1,000 outlets. As a result of the transaction, the Randstad Group will have combined revenues of approximately $22 billion/ euro 17 billion (pro forma, LTM March 31, 2011).

SFN CEO Roy Krause was quoted in the release as saying, “The executive management and I are confident that the combination of our two companies is a strong strategic fit that will not only deliver expanded service offerings for our clients in North America, but also creates opportunities to service them on a global basis.”

“Both companies have complementary cultures and values which will provide growth opportunities for our staff associates.” Krause concluded.

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Takeover target Nalco Holding Co. (NLC) jumps in price

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Nalco Holding Co. (NYSE: NLC) shares jumped 24.2% to $35.86 after pest-control services provider Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) said it would acquire the water-treatment company for about $5.4 billion. Volume for Nalco amounted to 22.2 million shares, towering over a daily average of just better than one million.

The company out of Napierville, Illinois put out a news release saying that, under the terms of the agreement, which was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Nalco’s shareholders may elect to receive either 0.7005 share of Ecolab common stock per share of Nalco common stock or $38.80 in cash, without interest, per share of Nalco common stock.

Nalco CEO J. Erik Fyrwald was quoted in the release as saying, “This is a strategically and financially compelling transaction that brings together two highly complementary businesses — combining Nalco’s leading positions in water and energy services with Ecolab’s strength in the food and beverage, health-care and institutional markets.

“Moreover, this transaction delivers substantial value to our shareholders through an immediate premium to Nalco’s share price as well as the opportunity to participate in the upside potential of the combined company. We are confident that our strong momentum, along with the combined enterprise’s significant financial resources, will enable us to deliver both accelerated growth and improved profitability.”

Nalco Company prides itself as being the world’s largest sustainability services company focused on industrial water, energy and air applications. The company says it helps customers reduce energy, water and other natural resource consumption, minimizing environmental releases while boosting the bottom line.

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Arch Chemicals Inc. (ARJ) benefits from buyout by Swiss firm

Monday, July 11th, 2011

Arch Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: ARJ) shares rose Monday by 11.2% to $46.88. The biocides firm agreed to be acquired by Swiss chemical company Lonza Group AG in a cash transaction valued at $1.4 billion, the companies said. Volume for the stock ballooned to more than 8.5 million shares, over a daily average of less than 198,000.

A release dated July 11 stated that the Norwalk, Conn.-based Arch received an offer from Lonza representing a 36.7% premium to Arch Chemicals’ average closing price over the last 30 trading days. Based on the offer price for all the outstanding shares, Arch Chemicals’ enterprise value would be $1.4 billion (approximately 1.25 billion Swiss francs).

Lonza’s cash offer is subject to customary conditions including the tendering of more than two-thirds of Arch Chemicals’ outstanding shares of common stock and clearance from antitrust regulatory authorities. Lonza expects to commence the tender offer by July 15 and to complete the tender offer later in 2011.

Said Arch CEO Michael Campbell in the same release, “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Lonza, a company that knows our business well and shares our commitment to continuous improvement in innovation, operational excellence, safety and sustainability.

“We are confident that we have found the right strategic partner to help our business reach the next level of success. This compelling transaction offers Arch Chemicals shareholders a meaningful premium for their shares and will create exciting opportunities for Arch Chemicals employees, while enhancing offerings for customers.”

Arch Chemicals, Inc. is a global Biocides company with annual sales of over $1 billion U.S. Arch and its subsidiaries provide innovative, chemistry-based and related solutions to destroy or to selectively inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms.

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Highway Holdings Limited (HIHO) higher profits boost stock price

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Highway Holdings Limited (Nasdaq:HIHO) shares vaulted 38.6% to $4.13, after the company reported net income for fiscal year 2011 climbed sharply to $1.7 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, from $420,000, or $0.11 per diluted share, in fiscal 2010. Volume for the stock totaled 261,123 shares, trouncing an all-day average of just over 4,600.

“Results for fiscal 2011 reflect a strongly improved business environment and the benefits of streamlining operations to enhance operating efficiencies,” according to CEO Roland Kohl, who in the June 29 press release, highlighted the two key strategic initiatives implemented during the past few years that have greatly enhance profitability; reducing the company’s operations from four factories to one, and the utilization of automation in its manufacturing process.

“As a consequence, the company was able to further improve its balance sheet and increase its cash position to take advantage of future strategic growth opportunities,” Kohl said.

Gross profits improved for both the fiscal 2011 fourth quarter and year — increasing by $367,000, or 26.16%, and $1,853,000, or 39.4%, respectively, compared with the same periods in fiscal 2010. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales remained essentially unchanged at approximately 21% percent for the fiscal year, despite initiatives noted above to reduce the company’s manufacturing expenses.

Highway Holdings produces a wide variety of high-quality products for blue chip original equipment manufacturers — from simple parts and components to sub-assemblies and finished products. Highway Holdings’ administrative offices are located in Hong Kong, and its manufacturing facilities are located in Shenzhen in the People’s Republic of China.

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