NORTH CANTON, Ohio — Diebold Inc. announced today that it has mailed a letter to George David, chairman and chief executive of United Technologies Corp., in response to United Technologies' unsolicited $40 per share offer, which was made public on Sunday, March 2. Diebold announced on Monday that its board of directors had rejected the offer.
In the response to David and United Technologies, Diebold's non-executive chairman of the board, John Lauer, writes that "while our rejection of your unsolicited proposal to acquire Diebold Inc. has been publicly disclosed, I want to take this opportunity to emphasize our position with respect to the company's long-term strategy and prospects, to reiterate that our focus is on building and delivering value for our shareholders, and to respond directly to mischaracterizations regarding the history of discussions between Diebold and United Technologies Corp."
Lauer goes on to say that "UTX is opportunistically seeking value that belongs to Diebold shareholders.
Diebold says the offer made by United Technologies came in at an "inadequate price" that does not reflect significant progress made against the company's current strategic initiatives. Those initiatives, Lauer says, include "a U.S. ATM and financial self-service environment that is anticipated to improve in 2009 from recent lows," as well as opportunities for overseas growth overseas.
Diebold says it has been unable to provide forward-looking guidance and it would be imprudent for the company to engage in any change-of-control discussions at this time.
"We take exception to your assertion that UTX has ‘sought for more than two years to engage Diebold in constructive discussions,'" Lauer says. "This statement is inaccurate and misleading."
According to Diebold, United Technologies never made formal acquisition proposals before the Feb. 29 offer.
