Littelfuse To Increase Ownership Of Heinrich Industrie AG To 96.8 percent

Littelfuse Inc., Des Plaines, Ill., has signed an agreement for the purchase of an additional 10.1 percent of shares in Heinrich Industrie AG of Witten, Germany, to increase ownership to 96.8 percent.

The company will purchase an additional 202,000 shares of Heinrich for approximately 4.8 million euros in a private transaction. After increasing ownership in Heinrich to 96.8 percent, the company said it intends to move forward with a process under German securities law to purchase all remaining shares.

Further strengthening its position in the worldwide circuit protection market, Littelfuse acquired an initial 82.4 percent ownership stake in Heinrich in May 2004 and initiated a tender offer for the remaining shares. The tender offer, which was completed in July, increased the company’s total ownership of Heinrich to 86.7 percent.