REFILE-UPDATE 1-Hollysys shareholders approve merger with Ascendent Capital affiliates
(Fixes typo in headline)
Feb 8 (Reuters) - Hollysys Automation Technologies Ltd. said on Thursday its shareholders voted in favor of a merger with private equity firm Ascendent Capital Partners.
The U.S. listed Chinese automation control system provider said last year it had agreed that Ascendent Capital, which already owns a 13.7% stake in the company, will acquire the outstanding Hollysys shares at $26.5 each in a deal valued around $1.66 billion.
Superior Technologies Mergersub Limited, which is affiliated with Ascendent Capital, will merge into Hollysys, and Hollysys will become a wholly owned unit of Superior Technologies Holding Limited, another Ascendent affiliate, according to a Hollysys statement.
Hollysys has attracted several takeover suitors over the past years. That included a $29.50 per share offer last month from a consortium led by China's Dazheng Group, which Hollysys' special committee rejected due to issues such as concerns over Dazheng's equity financing.
Founded in 1993, the Beijing-based Hollysys offers automation solutions and control systems that have been used in areas from rail transport to nuclear power plants, the company's website showed. It also offers cyber security solutions for industrial use. (Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru and Roxanne Liu in Beijing; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Elaine Hardcastle )
