Total (FP) To Buy Battery Maker Saft (SAFT) For $1.08 Billion

French oil company Total SA filed a tender of a friendly takeover of battery maker Saft Groupe SA with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF), the two companies announced in a joint statement Monday. The deal values Saft at 950 million euros ($1.082 billion), including all of its issued and outstanding shares.

Total is offering 36.5 euros for each share of Saft, ex-dividend of 0.85 euros per share, which is a 38.3 percent premium over Saft’s closing share price on Friday, and a 24.2 percent premium above Saft’s volume weighted average share price over the last 12 months. The offer also values the company at nine times its reported EBITDA in 2015, according to the statement.

The takeover proposal has been unanimously approved by Saft’s supervisory board, which considers the offer “in line with the interests of the company.” The board “also announced its intention to recommend that its shareholders tender their shares.”

“The combination of Saft and Total will enable Saft to become the Group’s spearhead in electricity storage,” Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total, said. “The acquisition of Saft is part of Total’s ambition to accelerate its development in the fields of renewable energy and electricity, initiated in 2011 with the acquisition of SunPower,” he added.

Saft designs and manufactures advanced technology batteries that are used in a variety of industrial infrastructure and processes, such as energy storage, transportation and telecommunications, as well as space and defense. It has 14 manufacturing sites and over 4,100 employees across 19 countries.

“Saft’s renowned technological know-how and unique expertise have allowed it to develop innovative and competitive solutions for its clients. It will notably allow us to complement our portfolio with electricity storage solutions, a key component of the future growth of renewable energy,” Pouyanné said.

The deal must be approved by AMF, “which will evaluate its compliance with applicable laws and regulations,” the companies said.

Shares of Total were trading about 0.5 percent lower during early trade on the Euronext Exchange in Paris on Monday morning.