{"id":14474,"date":"2018-01-23T16:28:10","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T16:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14474"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:11","slug":"sales-boost-bolsters-gkn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14474","title":{"rendered":"Sales boost bolsters GKN"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Engineering giant GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defences were bolstered against a hostile takeover by Melrose yesterday (January 22), after sales forecasts for its electric car parts division were boosted.<\/p>\n

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Unite, which is lobbying shareholders and MPs against the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpredatory and destructive\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 merger, welcomed the new forecasts.<\/p>\n

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However, the union also warned against attempts to uptick GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s share price at the expense of workers and the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long-term future if the Melrose bid fails.<\/p>\n

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The FTSE 100 engineering firm revealed that its electric Driveline division is expected to bring in \u00c2\u0141275m in 2020, up from a previous forecast of \u00c2\u0141200m and way above last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s figure of \u00c2\u014133m.<\/p>\n

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GKN<\/a> Driveline chief executive Phil Swash said the forecasts show the firm is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bwell positioned to capitalise on the strong market growth in hybrid and electric vehicles\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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Turn around firm Melrose, which is attempting to sway GKN shareholders with a \u00c2\u01417bn hostile bid, said the updated figures are \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpart of the justification of the premium that we are offering\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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GKN management have twice rejected Melrose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offer<\/a>, pointing out that the bid is being funded by debt, which will be leveraged against the firm to pay GKN shareholders an \u00e2\u20ac\u015bexceptional dividend\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

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Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke echoed their concerns and said a Melrose takeover<\/a> will lead to cut backs and threaten the long-term stability of the company.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098High risk, hostile bid\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis high risk, hostile bid is straight out of the 1980s. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about using workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 money to boost the share price, plunging the company into debt in the process,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Burke said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is sending a clear message to Melrose. We will not let thousands of highly skilled manufacturing jobs be gambled by a bunch of cowboy capitalists.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Melrose\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bid was initiated after GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s share price fell by 15 per cent in October. The drop occurred because the firm had to write off inventory and unpaid invoices in its US aerospace operations.<\/p>\n

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GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s troubles have led to restructuring and cost cutting plans that are scheduled to go ahead regardless of whether the Melrose merger is successful.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098No need to make changes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But according to Aston University\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s professor of industrial strategy, David Bailey, there is no need to make the changes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which Unite are also opposing.<\/p>\n

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Writing in the Birmingham Mail<\/a>, Professor Bailey said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter the November shock, the GKN board has been under intense investor pressure to change its position.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut, let’s be clear, this is nevertheless a fundamentally well-run company and there is no need to change the management of the firm through a disruptive takeover or even, I’d argue, split it up.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite is also clear that despite the recent troubles, GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s aerospace devision\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s underlying performance is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bvery strong\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and could be secured with long-term investment.<\/p>\n

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The union is warning the current management team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s restructure and cost cutting plan is as dangerous to GKN workers as the Melrose bid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s GKN Filton convenor John Sweeney said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe workforce are worried that the bid will be used as a lever to change terms and conditions even if we do remain with GKN.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat even if the shareholders don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t accept the offer from Melrose, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to want a pound of flesh from workers anyway.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Engineering giant GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s defences were bolstered against a hostile takeover by Melrose yesterday (January 22), after sales forecasts for its electric car parts division were boosted.   Unite, which is lobbying shareholders and MPs against the \u00e2\u20ac\u015bpredatory and destructive\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 merger, welcomed the new forecasts.   However, the union also warned against attempts to uptick GKN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[624,690],"wps_subtitle":"Forecasts welcomed in fight against hostile takeover","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14474"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26446,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14474\/revisions\/26446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}