Belgian Aliaxis, which manufactures water management equipment, says that it is planning to make a purchase offer for Uponor, a Finnish manufacturer of pipe and heating systems. The offer came as a surprise to Uponor and its largest owner.

Aliaxis told about the purchase offer in its press release on Monday. Uponor later confirmed the matter with its own press release.

Aliaxis offers to pay Uponor’s shareholders EUR 25.00 for one share. The total value of the offer is approximately EUR 1.8 billion.

The Belgian company’s offer per share is about 44.6 percent more than the closing price of Uponor’s share on the Helsinki Stock Exchange on Friday.

The purchase offer is not binding, and it is conditional, among other things, on a due diligence check. Aliaxis has not negotiated the offer with Uponor, and the offer is not recommended by Uponor’s board of directors.

CEO of Aliaxis Eric Olsen believes that Aliaxis’ proposal was in the best interest of Uponor’s shareholders.

“Our possible Offer would represent a very attractive opportunity for Uponor’s shareholders to lock in a significant return with less risk, despite significant headwinds, including the ongoing downturn in the residential construction market in Europe and the United States,” says Olsen in the press release.

Uponor says that the announcement of Aliaxis’ purchase offer has not been coordinated with it.

According to the company, Uponor’s board has previously discussed a purchase offer with Aliaxis, but these discussions were terminated last year.

Uponor’s board of directors is currently evaluating with its advisors whether the offer is in the best interest of its shareholders.

“There is no certainty that a possible offer will lead to a public takeover offer or any other transaction,” Uponor says in its press release.

Uponor the largest owner, Oras Invest of the Paasikivi family, does not intend to accept Aliaxis’ possible purchase offer.

The investment company says in its press release that, in its opinion, Aliaxis’ purchase offer does not reflect Uponor’s full value potential.

“The offer made by a well-known industrial company like Aliaxis highlights Uponor’s strong performance and additional potential. However, Oras Invest believes that the company is on the right track to continue to generate significant value for its shareholders as an independent company,” says Oras Invest in its press release.

Oras Invest owns 25.7 percent of Uponor.

Aliaxis is headquartered in Brussels and operates in more than 40 countries. The company has more than 15,000 employees, and its turnover last year was 4.3 billion euros.

Uponor’s share went up sharply after the announcement of Aliaxis’ announcement. The share was up 42 percent at 24.54 euros on Monday at noon on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. At most, the share has risen by 44 percent.

Correction 4/17/2023 at 2:55 p.m.: Removed from the first sentence the reference that the purchase offer would be hostile.