Ancora Releases Letter Regarding its Strong Opposition to H.B. Fuller’s High-Risk Attempt to Acquire U.K.-Based Advanced Medical Solutions
Contends the Reckless Pursuit of AMS Contradicts Management’s
Highlights the Potential Acquisition Would Increase Leverage to Above 4.0x Net Debt / Proforma Adjusted EBITDA and Exacerbate the Company’s Depressed Valuation Multiple
Notes Management Lacks Experience Successfully Integrating Transformative Acquisitions Involving New Product Categories with Regulatory Complexities in Foreign Geographies
Urges H.B. Fuller’s Board to Abandon its Irresponsible Pursuit of AMS and Conduct a Full Review of Strategic Alternatives, Including Evaluating Sale Options Following Apparent Buyer Interest
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Attention: The Board of Directors (the “Board”)
Subject: The Reasons for Abandoning the Reckless Pursuit of AMS / Initiating a Strategic Review
Members of the Board,
We appreciate being given the opportunity to constructively engage with management over the course of the spring. Comments made by
The purpose of today’s letter is to convey our strong opposition to the pursuit of AMS or any other material purchase, and we call on the Board to first conduct a full review of strategic alternatives (including evaluating a sale of all or parts of the business) as an essential initial step. In hindsight, we are not surprised that management and their advisors are apparently advocating for a large cross-border acquisition that will increase leverage and introduce numerous operating risks, including with respect to entering new categories with fragmented regulatory regimes across
The silver lining is the Board still has time to slam the brakes on an acquisition of AMS before further damaging H.B. Fuller’s credibility with shareholders and impairing the Company’s value in the market. When contemplating how this acquisition looks from the perspective of shareholders, please consider the following:
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Acquiring AMS would completely impugn the credibility of management and the Board in the eyes of the investment community. As a reminder, leadership stated on H.B. Fuller’s most recent earnings call that “we will pause on closing deals in the near term, focusing more cash deployment on share repurchases, while we deliver on our commitment to achieve our target of 2.5x to 3x net debt to EBITDA.” It seems the Board either ignored or was unaware of the Company’s own commitment when authorizing the pursuit of AMS. We believe Ancora is part of a growing crowd of shareholders who are already outraged by the Company’s attempt to break its two-month-old deleveraging pledge in favor of a bizarre deal.
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Acquiring AMS or any material acquisition appears like a de facto “poison pill” intended to chill what we believe is meaningful acquirer interest. We are concerned the full Board may not be aware of the strong interest that financial sponsors have in acquiring
H.B. Fuller and other industrial chemical companies. Based on our diligence and discussions with long-standing industry contacts, we are highly confident that leadership has been approached by credible buyers. After all,H.B. Fuller is the world’s only pure-play, publicly listed adhesives business. This is why shareholders will very likely agree with us that any acquisition represents a thinly veiled entrenchment maneuver. Given the meaningful discountH.B. Fuller currently trades at relative to the Company’s intrinsic value, we question how the Board could allow management to pursue this type of capital allocation decision without first running a comprehensive strategic review. -
The prospective acquisition of AMS represents an extremely risky, quasi-transformational international acquisition that is completely out of management’s depth. This type of deal would propel the Company into a category where it has no significant product experience, no in-market experience and no relevant regulatory expertise. The risk is amplified by the Company relying upon a historically ineffective
U.S. -based leadership team to integrate an international business across a fragmented European footprint. It is unfathomable to us that the Board would allow a CEO who has failed to generate shareholder value since beginning in the role to pursue such a high-risk acquisition. Lastly, geopolitical issues have increased the likelihood of supply chain disruptions and, in turn, industry volatility that makes it the worst possible time forH.B. Fuller to “bet the house” on AMS. -
The deal would increase the Company’s leverage to above 4.0x Net Debt / Proforma Adjusted EBITDA. This level of leverage would put further pressure on the Company's capital structure and already depressed valuation. The move also directly undermines the commitment to achieve balance sheet leverage of 2.5x-3.0x made on the Q1 2026 earnings call. There is a long list of examples of leverage constraining a company’s trading multiple.
H.B. Fuller already trades at a significant discount to its intrinsic value, public peers and adhesive transaction comparables. Levering up to more than 4.0x only increases risk for shareholders while management and the Board entrench themselves by betting the house on transformational M&A. -
The deal would exacerbate the negative overhang on the Company's poor valuation multiple – further punishing shareholders who have endured share price declines and valuation multiple compression. It is important to keep in mind that investors have endured total shareholder returns, inclusive of dividends, of approximately -25% during the tenure of Chief Executive Officer
Celeste Mastin . Moreover, it would be further dilutive to H.B. Fuller’s beleaguered valuation multiple to buy something at 11x-12x EBITDA while the Company trades at roughly 7.5x EBITDA. The Company is arguably already a conglomerate in the adhesives space, meaning acquiring a company with two-thirds of its portfolio in unrelated businesses will only exacerbate the conglomerate discount thatH.B. Fuller currently trades at.
To be clear, the pursuit of AMS must be abandoned in favor of a comprehensive review of all strategic alternatives – the foundation of any well-governed transaction evaluation process seeking to maximize shareholder value. Although our engagement with
In closing, although we are prepared to hold leadership accountable for any value-destructive and ill-timed capital allocation blunders via a proxy fight next year, the goal from the start of our monthslong engagement with
Regards,
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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
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President
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Visit www.SaveHBFuller.com to share your views on the potential acquisition. There is a limited window of time to act.
About Ancora
Founded in 2003,
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260526137974/en/
cconnolly@longacresquare.com / hvanderman@longacresquare.com
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