ONE day after Dutch global commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Company raised its takeover offer to A$0.67 per share for Namoi Cotton, Olam Agri has topped the bid by raising its stake to A$0.70 per share on Wednesday (May 8), heating up the tussle for the Australia’s largest cotton ginner.
The new offer by Olam Group’s indirect 64.57 per cent-owned subsidiary would value Namoi at A$144.9 million (S$129.4 million), up from rival bidder’s stake of A$138.6 million .
Shares of the Australian cotton-ginning company rose as much as 2.8 per cent to A$0.74, the highest since November 1999, after Louis Dreyfus upped its bid on Tuesday.
Olam Agri noted that the A$0.70 offer price applies regardless of whether or not Olam obtains a relevant interest in at least 90 per cent of Namoi shares before the end of the offer period.
Last Thursday, Olam Agri sweetened its offer to A$0.66 per share, subject to obtaining an interest in at least 50.1 per cent of Namoi shares, and proposed to increase its offer value to A$0.70 per share if it obtains at least 90 per cent of Namoi shares before the end of the offer period.
The Olam’s majority-owned agri-business unit noted on Wednesday that the new offer conditions are otherwise the same limited ones as those announced last Thursday. These conditions are 1) Olam having obtained a relevant interest in at least 50.1 per cent of the Namoi shares; 2) receipt of regulatory approvals from Foreign Investment Review Board and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and 3) no prescribed occurrences occurring in relation to Namoi before the end of the offer period.
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This is the third time when Olam Agri upped its ante in the takeover battle over Namoi.
Shares of Olam Group : VC2 0% closed Tuesday up 0.9 per cent to S$1.16.
