The management board of Derby Cycle AG said it views the Accell Group's Aug. 31 announcement that it has accumulated 22 percent of Derby Cycle's stock as a signal that the Dutch company has mounted a hostile bid to takeover of the newly public German company.
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“As the Management Board of Derby Cycle AG, we doubt whether this participating interest relates exclusively to a financial investment,” Derby Cycle's management board said in a statement released Thursday morning. “On the contrary, we as the Management Board are assuming that the Accell Group is planning a takeover of the company that is not desired from our perspective.
“Although we have received no related declaration of intent to date, and there have also been no discussions with representatives of the Accell Group about this topic, it is known that it is explicitly not part of our strategy to seek a merger with a large competitor. From today's perspective, we have no interest of any kind in any cooperation with the Accell Group, however it might be structured, and of whatever type it might be. We floated on the stock market at the start of this year in order to continue independently with our strategy at a high growth rate. The results for the first nine months of 2010/11 that have recently been published reflect the success of this strategy we are outstandingly positioned. For this reason, we will continue to pursue our successful strategy of independent growth also following the Accell Group's recent announcement.”
