SVH increases its offer for Nutreco

Nutreco expressed agreement on the new offer presented by SHV. (Photo: Stock File)

NETHERLANDS
Tuesday, November 11, 2014, 01:00 (GMT + 9)

SHV Holdings N.V. has increased its offer for Nutreco in an attempt to have a better position over Cargill in the struggle to take over the Dutch aquaculture feed and animal nutrition firm.

Nutreco and SHV informed through a release that they have jointly amended their conditional agreement, previously announced on 20 October 2014, in connection with a public offer by SHV for all issued and outstanding ordinary shares in the capital of Nutreco.

Both firms announced that under the terms of the deal SHV has increased its recommended full public offer for Nutreco to EUR 44.50 in cash per issued, which is 11.25 per cent higher than its initial offer.

Through the previous conditional agreement reached, SHV had agreed to acquire Nutreco for EUR 2,685 million (paying EUR 40 in cash per issued and outstanding ordinary share of Nutreco) whereas the new offer is for EUR 2,988 million.

By increasing its offer, the Dutch investment company responds to an unsolicited expression of competing interest which Nutreco has received from Cargill as well as to comments from various Nutreco shareholders.

“We took comments from various Nutreco shareholders into account, both the SHV side and the Nutreco side, and we now arrived at a new superior price,” Nutreco Chief Executive Officer Knut Nesse pointed out on a conference call with Bloomberg.

For their part, Nutreco shareholders APG Groep NV and NN Group NV claimed the initial 40-euro offer for a share was too low.

This increased offer price by SHV is fully supported by Nutreco Supervision Board and Executive Board, who recommend its unanimous acceptance.

Meanwhile, Nutreco rejects the expression of interest from Cargill, presented 8 November, in order to, together with Permira, break up Nutreco through a structured transaction.

Nutreco argued that Cargill's intention is "fundamentally incompatible with Nutreco's growth strategy in the long term for the business as a whole."