Icahn Drops Bid for CMC

Icahn Enterprises Holdings (IEH), a subsidiary of Icahn Enterprises LP, has announced that its tender offer for the outstanding shares of Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) for $15 per share in cash has expired. With the deadline for approval passing, Icahn Enterprises has decided to drop its bid to acquire CMC.

In a statement, Icahn notes that around 23 percent of the shares were tendered to its offer; however, the company was seeking to receive 40.1 percent of the company’s shares to go forward with its bid.

“We did not receive 40.1 percent of the shares, and therefore, as previously disclosed, we will discontinue our proxy fight,” says Carl C. Icahn, chairman of the board of Icahn Enterprises.

“Since we commenced our proxy fight and launched our tender offer, the company has made a number of promises to shareholders, which shareholders appear to believe will be beneficial to the stock. We respect the views of the shareholders and hopefully their decision not to tender will prove to be the right one,” Icahn continues.

In a press release, CMC says, “We are pleased that Mr. Icahn has ended the proxy contest following the expiration of the tender offer. The board has great confidence in the company’s future and believes that the continued execution of its strategic plan, which is already yielding positive results, will deliver enhanced value to our stockholders. We look forward to our upcoming annual meeting where our highly qualified director nominees — Harold Adams, Joe Alvarado and Anthony Massaro — are standing for election to the board. Our board and management remain focused on building on our momentum, and we would like to thank stockholders for their continued support.”