Ann: Trading Halt Request-ALQ.AX, page-4

ALS Ltd in crosshairs of strategic buyer, fundies ready for fight

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Street Talk. Adam Gault

• by
• Sarah Thompson
• Anthony Macdonald
• Joyce Moullakis

Fund managers are expected to put up a strong fight for the $2 billion ALS Limited, which is in the cross hairs of a strategic buyer.
ALS, the chemicals and testing business known as Campbell Brothers until 2012, has been a fundie favourite for years despite a sell-off in its shares.
Fundies reckon it is a good business battling through the bottom of the cycle. It has been trying to reinvent itself from a mining-related testing company into life sciences in recent years, however the transition is taking some time.
ALS requested a trading halt on Wednesday morning, in relation to a "potential change of control event".

It's understood JPMorgan is acting for ALS, while sources said the interest had come from a strategic buyer.
The shares last closed at $4.05 each - which is well below the $10 mark where they traded only four years ago.
Fundies suspect ALS is now in the crosshairs of a private equity or trade buyer, given the recent weakness.
Street Talk flagged interest in the company in January, with sources pointing to a European strategic player and a private equity firm running the ruler over ALS.


The company's global listed peers include London-listed Intertek, Switzerland's SGS and France's Bureau Veritas.
ALS's biggest shareholders include Harris Associates and Schroder Investment Management.
The company has historically been close to JPMorgan and Morgans.
The halt comes only a day after ALS hosted investors and analysts for an investor day, looking at its life sciences business.


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