Acquisition pushes up Cross shares
Nov 16 2007 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
SHARES in Scottish and Newcastle were given another boost yesterday, following a revised bid for the company by Carlsberg and Heineken.
The latter increased their offer price by 30p per share to 750p, a premium of 41% to Scottish and Newcastle’s share price of 531p in March, prior to the bid being made.
The announcement was made directly to the market in the morning and the Scottish and Newcastle board later rejected the offer, saying that the proposal was “wholly inadequate” and the consortium was trying to get control of the company “on the cheap”.
The shares traded about this level throughout the day, indicating a possible view from the market that a rival or higher bid may be likely.
Elsewhere in the beverages sector SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer released a good set of results for the six months to September 30.
There is speculation that it too could be on the verge of making an offer for Scottish and Newcastle, the attraction to SABMiller being Scottish and Newcastle’s 50pc share in Russian brewer, Baltic Beverage Holdings. The company’s chief executive stated that the Russian Beer market was “the most exciting in the world”.
Shares in Scottish and Newcastle shares topped the FTSE leaders’ board, rising 16.5p to close at 757p.
In The Journal 40, Southern Cross Health Care, the UK’s largest healthcare provider, announced the acquisition of a specialist learning disability business. Southern Cross mainly operates in the provision of homes and care to the elderly, though a subdivision of the company, Active Care Partnerships specialists in care for people with psychiatric illnesses and learning difficulties. The company also reported the sale of 15 care homes, originally acquired from Avery Healthcare in June, for £95.5m. Shares in the company ended the session up 4.5p to 605p.
Anna McKechnie anna.mckechnie@wise-speke.co.uk
