Shareholders in New Zealand honey products company Comvita have 45 days to consider a hostile $71.6 million bid by Singapore-based food giant Cerebos.
The offer price of $2.50 per share remains unchanged, and while that offers a 43% premium on the $1.75 Comvita shares were trading at when Cerebos launched its bid on October 14, its shares have since firmed to trade around $2.70, on expectation of a higher offer. Comvita's independent directors recently appointed Grant Samuel as the independent appraiser of the Cerebos offer, with the report due in coming weeks.
In reaffirming and posting the offer to shareholders yesterday, Cerebos said the offer was an attractive valuation multiple for Comvita at this stage of its growth cycle, and provided an opportunity for shareholders "to exit for cash from a very illiquid stock and at a time of significant market volatility".
The offer is conditional on Cerebos receiving 90% acceptance from holders in Comvita and approval of the Overseas Investment Office, but it could change the level of acceptance to anything above 50% in the near future.
The chief executive of Cerebos Gregg's food and coffee division, George Crocker, cautioned shareholders yesterday the Cerebos offer was the only one on the table and if it did not succeed, "in Cerebos' view there was every likelihood that the price of Comvita's shares would retreat again".
Comvita chairman Neil Craig has repeatedly asked shareholders not to sell, saying the Cerebos offer was undervalued and advising shareholders to await the independent appraisal.
