Osram announced on September 25 that “the courtship” of the company continues as Bain Capitan and its new partner, Advent, are in talk with Osram with its willingness to make a new takeover for the German high tech company, confronting sensor maker AMS.
According to Osram, the consortium of Advent and Bain Capital has indicated that “it may offer a ‘meaningful’ premium over the current offer from AMS of EUR 38.50 (US$42.14) per share.” The new bidders also said that their binding offer will be superior not only in terms of price but also the strategy and growth prospects for Osram.

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In November 2018, Bloomberg reported that Bain Capital was eyeing on taking over Osram and The Carlyle Group was said to join the bidding in December. Osram confirmed that that it had been in discussion with both parties by February 2019 and announced that it has received an offer of EUR 35 (US$ 38.31) per share from Bain Capital and The Carlyle Group in July.
After the Bain and Carlyle offer revealed, AMS, the Austrian sensor manufacturer, approached Osram with the interest of acquiring the German company with a price of EUR 38.50 (US$42.14) per share. AMS had made few turns before it finally submitted its proposal to Osram in August as the Apple supplier found its financial partners, HSBS and UBS, for a bridge financing of EUR 4.2 billion (US$ 4.6 billion).
Osram’s Executive Board and Supervisory Board recommended the shareholders to accept AMS’ offer from financial viewpoint. But employees of Osram did not stand with the boards with the concern of job losses as AMS would put the major focus on advanced photonics technologies for automotive applications and axe digital lighting business.
Now Bain teamed up with new partner Advent and the new consortium has indicated it would be willing to sign an investor agreement similar to that signed by Bain and Carlyle and to support the strategy of the management in the ongoing transformation of the company.
The existing agreement includes commitments to protect the workforce and sites, Osram continuously operating under the existing name after the takeover and remaining in Munich. Moreover, the rights to all patents would remain with Osram. The consortium noted, “We believe the future of Osram needs to be well aligned with all stakeholders, including unions and employee representatives.”
Osram is now pending Bain and Advent to further materialize their offer and said it will “make a timely recommendation to its shareholders, as with the previous offers.”