LONDON - The Finnish company Metso said Wednesday that it had rejected an offer by its Scottish engineering rival, the Weir Group, to open merger discussions.
In a statement Wednesday, Metso, which provides services for the mining, construction and oil and natural gas sectors, said that its board of directors had unanimously found that Weir’s proposal was “not in the best interest of Metso shareholders.â€
“The Metso board remains extremely positive and confident in Metso’s standalone growth and value creation prospects by pursuing its current strategy,†the company said in the statement. “As a consequence, the board has rejected Weir’s proposal and sees no reason to commence discussions regarding a potential combination.â€
Earlier this month, Weir said that it had made an “all-share merger proposal†to acquire Metso and envisioned the merged entity being listed in London and Helsinki, Finland.
The Times of London newspaper reported at the time that Weir was willing to pay as much as 30 euros, or about $41.54, a share for Metso.
Metso shares fell 5 percent, to €27.27, in early trading Wednesday in Helsinki.
Metso, created by a merger in 1999 of Valmet and Rauma, reported revenue of €3.86 billion last year and employs about 16,000 people.
Weir, which was founded in Glasgow in 1871, posted 2013 revenue of 2.43 billion pounds, or about $4.08 billion, and employs about 15,000 people in more than 70 countries.
