Draka, the Dutch cablemaker, has become the subject of a transcontinental bidding war after a Chinese conglomerate trumped two rival European takeover bids.
Xinmao Science and Technology, a Shenzhen-listed subsidiary of Xinmao Group, tabled a €1bn ($1.36bn) bid for the company just hours after Draka’s management had unveiled an agreed €840m deal with Milan-based Prysmian, the cable-focused Pirelli spin-off.
Cable industry insiders had widely assumed that Draka, once part of the Philips conglomerate, would end up being taken over either by Prysmian, which narrowly failed in a takeover bid last year, or by Nexans, a French group which last month had put Draka “in play” with a €731m offer.