Druck duo pocket £116m from GE bid
TWO scientists who built up the Druck Holdings instruments and sensors business over 30 years today bowed out clutching £116m in cash. Chairman John Salmon, 65, and Mike Bertioli, 69, agreed to a cash offer from the American conglomerate General Electric that values the Leicestershire-based business at £229m.
The low-profile entrepreneurs - they have never appeared on any Rich List or in Who's Who - invented a pressure measuring device in 1972 that was five times more accurate than anything else on the market. The technology is used in everything from cockpit instruments to machinery for regulating the bubbles in fizzy drinks.
They floated the company 10 years later when it made pre-tax profits of £800,000 on sales of £3m. By last year they had grown it to £14.6m and £76m. The 350p-a-share offer is at a 17% premium to the closing price on 8 May, just before Druck revealed it was in takeover talks. Shareholders will also get a 2p special dividend. GE has received irrevocable acceptances in respect of 52% of the shares.
Druck will be absorbed into GE Measurement & Sensing Technologies Holdings. Salmon and Bertioli will continue as consultants to the company.
