Securitas prolonged the acceptance period for Niscayah’s shareholders to Aug. 12 from July 18 because it found out the European Commission may clear the deal from a competition standpoint at about Aug. 4, it said in a statement today.

Stockholm-based Securitas is the world’s second-largest security services company by sales after G4S Plc. Bloomberg reports that Securitas may offer a higher price despite its comments indicating otherwise, said Soeren Lontoft Hansen, an analyst with Sydbank A/S in Aabenraa, Denmark with an “underweight”rating on Securitas shares. “It’s hard to say how they will play this,” Hansen said by telephone. “This is a game, and I think they’re holding their cards back. You don’t want to disclose your next step in this process.”

Securitas on May 16 offered to buy Niscayah through a share swap, exchanging one Securitas Class A share for every 4.19 Niscayah Class A share, and the same condition for the companies’ Class B shares. Stanley Black & Decker, most known for its power tools, outbid Securitas on June 27, offering 7.6 billion kronor ($1.19 billion) to expand its security-related business.
Optimistic Plan

“We were maybe a bit optimistic about our time plan,”Gisela Lindstrand, a Securitas spokeswoman, said by telephone, reiterating that the company doesn’t plan to raise its bid in response to Stanley Black & Decker’s offer. “We’re still interested in acquiring Niscayah and we think we have offered the price tag that Niscayah is worth for us. We have made our best offer.” Securitas’ biggest shareholders, Gustaf Douglas and Melker Schoerling, are also among the top-six owners in Niscayah, according to Bloomberg data.

Securitas rose 2.4 percent to 65 kronor at 1:50 p.m. in Stockholm trading. Niscayah was unchanged at 18.30 kronor. Securitas spun off three of its divisions between 2006 and 2008, including Niscayah. The unit, then called Securitas Systems, was distributed to shareholders in 2006 “to enhance transparency, specialization and shareholder value.”

Securitas aims for cost savings of about 200 million kronor a year from the proposed merger, with the full effect from 2013, it said on May 16.