European Event-Driven Analyst

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Jesús is an Insight Provider (Event-driven) on the Smartkarma network, where he looks across sectors at opportunities arising from securities mispricing (both credit and equity), share classes, bid announcements, prospective bids, and special situations. He has served as Economic and Business Advisor at the Spanish Congress in Madrid. Prior to that, he has worked in the City of London: as a Credit Analyst at Bloomberg; Event-driven associate at former boutique European Research; and doubled as Special Situations and Equity-linked VP (convertible bonds) at Merrill Lynch. Jesús has an MBA from the London Business School, a BA (Hons.) degree in Economics from the Complutense University in Madrid, and a BA (Hons.) in Law from U.N.E.D., also in Madrid.

Parker-Hannifin/Meggitt: Agreed 71% Takeover Premium

Event-Driven

On October 28, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meggitt-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22044:1" rel="noopener">Meggitt PLC (MGGT LN)</a> published Q3 trading update and downgraded guidance for FY 2021: it expects FY 2021 organic revenue to be 5% below FY 2020 on an organic basis (FY 2020 revenue was £1.68 billion), due to supply chain disruption and softer defence trends. Meggitt added that it expects underlying operating profit of between £170 million and £190 million (vs. £192 million in FY 2020).
The UK government ordered a probe into the takeover offer on national security grounds. The CMA is required to investigate the proposed transaction and report to the Secretary of State by March 18, 2022. Meggitt looks forward to engaging constructively with the CMA on its review. In mid-August, the Secretary of State ordered a similar probe into the takeover of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ultra-electronics-holdings-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22196:1" rel="noopener">Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE LN)</a> by Cobham, and gave the CMA until January 18, 2022 to investigate the proposed deal.
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/parker-hannifin-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:6289:1" rel="noopener">Parker Hannifin (PH US)</a> is an industrial buyer, and does not intend to dismantle Meggitt as it has happened with Cobham (Cobham was quickly dismantled after the takeover by Advent).
Boris is seeking allies beyond the EU, so I do not think the UK Government will block a deal from an American company with committed financing. Rather the Government will ask for guarantees that jobs/technology/manufacturing stay within the UK. With committed deal financing and almost sure green light from the UK Government, there are high chances that this deal will complete.
Meggitt currently trades at 18.8x EV/Fwd EBITDA (vs. the 10.3x median of comparables, source: Capital IQ consensus) and 3.4% FCF yield reflecting the bid premium. The spread is relentlessly tightening.
Gross spread is 6.2% for a deal that can take up to a year to close (and quite possibly 6-9 months). Recommendation is long MGGT LN, TP is 800p as per the Parker-Hannifin offer.

On October 28, Meggitt PLC (MGGT LN) published Q3 trading update and downgraded guidance for FY 2021: it expects FY 2021 organic revenue to be 5% below FY 2020 on an organic basis (FY 2020 revenue was £1.68 billion), due to supply chain disruption and softer defence trends. Meggitt added that it expects underlying operating profit of between £170 million and £190 million (vs. £192 million in FY 2020).
The UK government ordered a probe into the takeover offer on national security grounds. The CMA is required to investigate the proposed transaction and report to the Secretary of State by March 18, 2022. Meggitt looks forward to engaging constructively with the CMA on its review. In mid-August, the Secretary of State ordered a similar probe into the takeover of Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE LN) by Cobham, and gave the CMA until January 18, 2022 to investigate the proposed deal.
Parker Hannifin (PH US) is an industrial buyer, and does not intend to dismantle Meggitt as it has happened with Cobham (Cobham was quickly dismantled after the takeover by Advent).
Boris is seeking allies beyond the EU, so I do not think the UK Government will block a deal from an American company with committed financing. Rather the Government will ask for guarantees that jobs/technology/manufacturing stay within the UK. With committed deal financing and almost sure green light from the UK Government, there are high chances that this deal will complete.
Meggitt currently trades at 18.8x EV/Fwd EBITDA (vs. the 10.3x median of comparables, source: Capital IQ consensus) and 3.4% FCF yield reflecting the bid premium. The spread is relentlessly tightening.
Gross spread is 6.2% for a deal that can take up to a year to close (and quite possibly 6-9 months). Recommendation is long MGGT LN, TP is 800p as per the Parker-Hannifin offer.

Parker-Hannifin/Meggitt: Update and Spread