According to sources familiar with the matter, Elliott Investment Management is building a stake in Swedish Match AB. Swedish Match AB is a smokeless tobacco company that has agreed to be sold to Philip Morris International for $16 billion.
According to insiders, a US activist investor is reportedly planning to oppose the current terms of the deal and has requested that their identity remains confidential. Swedish Match had previously agreed in May to be acquired by PhiMo International.
A representative of Elliott declined to comment. Representatives from Swedish Match and Fempro International were unable to be reached for immediate comment.
On Friday, the stock price of Swedish Match increased by 1.7%, causing the company's market value to reach 161.3 billion kronor ($15.2 billion).
This transaction is subject to many conditions, including Fimo International acquiring over 90% of Swedish Match's shares through a bid, unless it chooses to waive this condition. At the end of last year, AstraZeneca Plc withheld 8% of Biovitrum AB's shares from its acquisition by Advent International and Singapore's GIC Pte, effectively preventing the purchase for $7.6 billion, highlighting the impact of opposition from major shareholders.
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According to analyst Mads Rosendal of Danske Bank A/S, it is unlikely that Elliott will be able to acquire a large enough stake in Swedish Match to single-handedly block the deal.
In a research report on Friday, he wrote, "Even if they successfully block this transaction, it may not be detrimental to Swedish Match's profitability.
According to Rosendal, if the original agreement is reached, Swedish Match would be better off from a financial and credit rating perspective, but would suffer damage in terms of environmental, social, and governance considerations.
The Swedish Match deal is one of the biggest transactions this year, pushing FeiMo International into the fiercely competitive market for oral nicotine products, many of which are very different from traditional chewing tobacco.
Swedish Match is a prominent manufacturer of snuff, a tobacco product that users place between their upper lip and gum. It is popular in Sweden but banned in other parts of Europe. The company also produces nicotine pouches known as ZYN.
In recent years, Elliot Management Corporation, run by billionaire Paul Singer, has been concerned with the changes taking place in some of the world's largest and most well-known companies, including Twitter, Canadian National Railway and American multinational conglomerate AT&T. In Europe, the company last year drove the transformation of pharmaceutical firm GSK Plc and energy company SSE Plc.
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