One of the larger shareholders in Germany's drug distributor Celesio AG is billionaire Paul Singer. There are rumors saying that he may be seeking to fetch a higher price for his shareholdings in the firm in light of the McKesson Corp's bid to acquire the drug firm.
Paul Singer's Elliott Management Corp currently holds a 10.06% share of voting rights in Celesio, which is based out of Stuttgart, Germany. The shares of Celesio are trading above the EUR23 bid price offered by McKesson Corp.
The hedge fund had always pushed for change at companies it had involved itself either through mergers and acquisitions. Elliott became the largest shareholder in Kabel Deutschland Holding AG when the telecommunications firm received a EUR7.7 billion or USD10.4 billion takeover offer from Vodafone Group Plc. In another move back in 2011, Elliott sought to oust the board members of Swiss drugmaker Actelion, albeit unsuccessfully.
One of the nuances of the German system allows investors can refuse to sell their shares during a takeover bid and seek a higher price for the owned shares. When this occurs, courts would intervene in determining the share valuation.
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