Diebold Nixdorf, the ATM servicer and software provider, has hired financial advisers to seek a sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
No deal is assured, and talks with potential buyers aren't advanced, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Diebold hired Credit Suisse and Evercore last week to help identify potential buyers, and it's too early to determine a price for the company, said the people.
Diebold shares have been in a freefall since forecasting lower-than-expected EBITDA earlier this month and revealing it would use cash on hand and tap its revolving credit line to buy $160 million of Wincor Nixdorf shares, the German company Diebold bought in 2016.
Even though Diebold acquired Wincor two years ago, not all of Wincor's shareholders tendered the offer. Diebold only held 77 percent of the outstanding shares by the end of July. Earlier this month, 13 percent of the remaining outstanding holders asked to be paid, amounting to about $255 million. Diebold paid $160 million and will pay the remaining $95 million later this week, the company said in a statement released earlier Monday. Diebold will then own more than 90 percent of outstanding shares.
Diebold had access to $380 million in funds under its revolving credit facility at the end of the second quarter, D.A. Davidson's Matt Summerville said in a note to clients.
"The company is in constructive and productive discussions with its lenders regarding its future financial flexibility and expects to reach a resolution in the near-term," Diebold said in the statement Monday. "The company will disclose additional details in due course."
Given the tight liquidity position, Diebold is looking for a buyer now and is focusing on private equity firms and NCR, said the people. Bain Capital may be interested if it has enough time to perform due diligence and isn't rushed by the liquidity dynamic, one of the people said. Bain and Blackstone had discussed partnering on a deal for NCR, a peer and rival of Diebold, in 2015. A spokesman for Bain declined to comment. A spokesman for NCR couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Diebold has a market capitalization of less than $400 million after shares have fallen about 75 percent from $21.50 to less than $5 over the past 52 weeks. Diebold had annual revenue of $4.6 billion in 2017. The company has an enterprise value of just over $2 billion.
Gerrard Schmid took over as Diebold's CEO in February.
A Diebold spokesman declined to comment on the sales process, but added, "As a global leader in our industry, we have the scale and capacity to evolve alongside the markets we serve and continue to bring our customers innovative services and solutions."
Spokesmen for Credit Suisse and Evercore declined to comment.
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