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Komatsu said on Thursday that it would acquire 100 percent of
the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based company for $28.30 per share,
about a 20 premium to Wednesday's closing price. That values
Joy's equity at just under $2.9 billion.
A number of Japanese companies have been taking advantage of a
stronger yen to chase overseas deals. The dollar has lost over
10 percent against the yen this year. Sterling has also slipped.
Earlier this week, tech investor SoftBank bought U.K. chip
designer ARM in Japan's largest-ever outbound M&A deal.
For Komatsu, acquiring Joy will help the Japanese equipment
maker expand into hard-rock mining for key metals like copper.
Komatsu currently produces only surface-mining equipment. Joy
also manufactures larger dump trucks - key for cost-saving in
surface mining.
The deal follows a flurry of consolidation in the sector over
the past few years. Demand for mining equipment has tumbled
sharply from the commodity cycle's peak five years ago as China
and other key markets slowed.
"The mining market is near the bottom now. Now is the good time
(to do the acquisition)," Komatsu CEO Tetsuji Ohashi told
reporters. "We have solid enough financial soundness to
withstand a large scale acquisition."
Komatsu generates annual revenue of more than $17 billion, with
just under a quarter of it from mining equipment sales.
The company plans to finance the acquisition with funds on hand
and bank loans. The deal is subject to approval of Joy
shareholders and the necessary regulatory green light.
Shares in Komatsu in Tokyo, already closed when the release was
issued, ended up 2.3 percent at just under 2,082 yen on
Thursday, valuing the group at around 1.97 trillion yen ($18.4
billion).
Joy shares have risen 86 percent this year, though they are
still at around half their levels at the beginning of 2015.
Komatsu, which has forecast a fourth straight annual drop in
demand for key products this year, said it expects the sector to
grow in the long term.
(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Additional reporting by Aaron
Sheldrick in TOKYO; Editing by Ryan Woo)
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