19.10.2008

Gehl in shareholder lawsuit

US based telehandler and compact Gehl Co has announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with a shareholder, Chuck Kandel, who has filed a class action lawsuit claiming that Gehl undervalued its shares in its proposed sale to French based manufacturer Manitou.

The law suit claims that Gehl was worth $55.09 a share, while Gehl accepted $30 a share from Manitou, which in itself was well over double the market price in the days prior to the deal.


The memorandum agrees to release further information and details to the plaintiff in order to settle the suit.

Vertikal Comment

This suit is a surprise, given the current market conditions and prospects for North American telehandler sales. If anything most observers thought that Manitou paid a premium for Gehl. The share price had not been close to the $30 level for more than a year.

It is hard to see what Kandel bases the $55 valuation on, one would have thought that most Gehl shareholders would have ‘snapped Manitou’s hand off’.