OREANDA-NEWS. August 28, 2012. Following the acquisition announced on July 26 and completed on August 2, 2012 of 29.8% of the share capital of CFAO from PPR, Toyota Tsusho Corporation ("TTC") has completed its due diligence review and has decided, during its board of directors meeting held on August 28, 2012, to launch a voluntary public tender offer on the remaining shares of CFAO.

 The price of the tender offer will be Ђ37.50 per share which corresponds to the same price paid to PPR for the acquisition of the aforementioned 29.8% stake. PPR, the former main shareholder of CFAO, has already agreed with TTC to tender its remaining 12.2% stake in CFAO into the voluntary public tender offer (this undertaking will only be revocable if a competitive offer is filed).

 
The tender offer is expected to be filed with the Autoritй des marchйs financiers ("AMF", the French securities regulator) by September 15, 2012. The implementation of the offer will be subject to the approval ("avis de conformitй") of the AMF and will only be conditional upon the clearance of the European antitrust authorities.

 
The Supervisory Board of CFAO will give its reasoned opinion on the offer ("avis motivй") following notably the conclusions of the independent expert report that should be appointed on September 4, 2012. The Supervisory Board has already mentioned that TTC’s acquisition of an interest in CFAO presents interesting prospects for the company, its subsidiaries, its employees and its shareholders and is undertaken in a friendly context.


This acquisition fits into the development strategy of TTC, whose turnover and market capitalization amount to respectively USD 74billion and USD 7.3billion. Indeed, TTC is aiming to achieve a balanced business portfolio among its Mobility, Life & Community and Earth & Resources businesses through its worldwide networks. CFAO’s three activities (Automotive, Pharmaceuticals and Consumer industries) will perfectly fits into TTC business portfolio. TTC will support the growth strategy of these three activities in order to develop CFAO as one of the leading distribution group in Africa and in the French Overseas Territories.