Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/1999/07/21/euro_listing_to_save_ilion/

Euro listing to save ilion

Troubled distie looks to France or Germany to ward off hostile bids

By Linda Harrison

Posted in On-Prem, 21st July 1999 12:27 GMT

ilion is considering floating its French subsidiary to boost the value of the company. The distributor is looking at ways to prevent further rival bids which have, in its opinion, until now undervalued the company. Floating the French business on the German or French stock markets would secure a more reasonable price for the company, said one ilion representative. "The company is being valued on the poor performance of the UK business," he said. "The French or German markets would value ilion on its European business, giving it a higher value." Nothing had been decided at the ilion camp, but the representative said the float would be "the logical thing to do." ilion remains vulnerable to competitors like Landis, which offered 114 pence per share to buy the company earlier this month. The ilion board rejected the offer as "totally unacceptable", saying the price per share undervalued the company. The ilion UK business has been fraught with problems this year – financial irregularities totalling £500,000 were discovered in May. A month later it lost its Cisco franchise while admitting sales in the UK were down on the previous year for the first six months of trading. ®