Metso has a few large shareholders including activist fund Cevian Capital and Finnish state fund Solidium whose support would be critical in pushing through any deal and the WSJ reports that the offer was met with a ‘cool reception’ from Solidium. Even if they were in favor, there is no guarantee a deal would get done or at what price it would be completed, so investing here is pure speculation. Shares of Metso had been down a little bit since the spin, but this news moved it nicely into the black. I doubt this offer gets made if Metso still retained Valmet so this seems like another data point supporting the idea that spinoffs really do make companies more ‘digestible’ and more attractive targets.
Disclosure: Author holds no position in any stock mentioned.