According to foreign media reports, RR Donnelley will be acquired by Atlas Holdings and will be privatized in the form of an all-cash transaction, valued at approximately US$2.1 billion. On November 3, US time, this final merger agreement was unanimously approved by Donnelly's board of directors.

The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022, but still requires approval from Donnelly shareholders and regulatory agencies. After the transaction is completed, Donnelly’s stock will no longer be traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and Donnelly will become a private company.

The acquisition of Donnelly is a high-premium acquisition

According to the terms of the transaction, Atlas Holdings, headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, will acquire all outstanding shares of Donnelly's common stock. Donnelly shareholders will receive $8.52 per share in cash from the common stock.

The purchase price is a premium of approximately 29.1% over Donnelly’s closing price on November 2 and a premium of approximately 72.8% over Donnelly’s closing price on October 11.

For the period ending October 11, 2021, the price is also approximately 64.1% higher than the 60-day volume-weighted average price of Donnelly.

Atlas Holding Company is strong and has successful acquisition experience

Atlas Holdings was founded in 2002 by Tim Fazio and Andrew Bursky. At first, they acquired a small paper mill in Indiana and hired 85 employees.

The company and its affiliates currently own and operate 23 platform companies, which employ approximately 40,000 employees in more than 250 factories worldwide and generate approximately US$10 billion in revenue each year.
 
Fazio, co-founder and managing partner of Atlas, said: “Atlas is a trusted partner for companies that have a good track record of innovation and customer service, and also have obvious opportunities for continued growth.
Affected by the good news, Donnelly's stock price rose nearly 40%

Donnelly also announced its third-quarter financial results. Performance shows that Donnelly's net sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2020 increased by 6.4% to US$1.27 billion.

Donnelly shares rose nearly 40% to $9.23 before going public on November 3.