Seagate Completes Lacie Acquisition, Becomes An Even Larger Storage Company

We knew the story had to end sometime, and now there's confirmation. Seagate and Lacie have just announced the completion of a deal that'll see the latter acquired by the former. Seagate was already the larger of the two, and now it's even bigger. Picking up Lacie is probably a wise move; it'll expand its portfolio, and it'll give it access to a panache and design that was lacking from Seagate's existing offerings. Now that the deal is done, Seagate has procured all of the shares of Philippe Spruch and his affiliate, representing 64.5% of the outstanding shares of Lacie for a provisional price of €4.05 per share. The price payable to Philippe Spruch and his affiliate may be increased by 3%, to €4.17 per share, in the event that within six months following today's date, Seagate holds at least 95% of the share capital and voting rights of Lacie.

So far, Lacie has continued to crank out new gear like nothing ever happened, and we're hoping that it continues. When companies buy other companies but leave well enough alone, things typically go well. Guess we'll see in a year or so, huh? Below is a bit of the official word confirming the deal's close.

"The completion of the transaction follows the required clearances from the French Ministry of Finance and the US and German Antitrust Authorities.

As a result of the completion of the transaction, Seagate intends to file in the coming weeks with the French Autorité des marches financiers an all-cash simplified tender offer on the remaining LaCie shares.

As previously announced, Ricol Lasteyrie & Associés has been appointed as independent expert by the Board of Directors of LaCie on May 23, 2012.

Following discussions with the Board of Directors of LaCie, in particular with the independent members, Seagate has increased the proposed offer price at which it will file its tender offer to €4.50 per LaCie share (without an additional 3% price supplement in the event that a squeeze-out procedure is implemented). Seagate may carry out a squeeze-out procedure at the same price of €4.50 per LaCie share if it were to hold at least 95% of the shares and voting rights of LaCie.

The Board of Directors welcomes the revised offer price and intends to support the revised offer as long as the final report of the independent expert affirms the valuation."