San Miguel bids on National Foods

San Miguel bids on National Foods

SYDNEY: San Miguel Corp. launched a takeover bid on Thursday
for Australia's largest dairy company, National Foods, topping a
previous offer from New Zealand's Fonterra as the Philippines
brewing giant moved to expand its non-alcoholic food holdings.

San Miguel's A$1.78 billion (US$1.38 billion) bid pushed
shares in National Foods up more than 5 percent as investors
anticipated a bidding war between the Manila-based brewer and its
New Zealand rival.

The National Foods board unanimously recommended shareholders
accept the A$6.0 a share offer, which it said was a closer
reflection of the company's true value than Fonterra's A$5.45.

"The proposal is superior to Fonterra's, which your board
continues to consider grossly undervalues National Foods,"
National Foods chairman David Crawford said in a statement to
shareholders that noted San Miguel's bid was a 28.5 percent
premium to the company's share price before Fonterra's offer. --
AFP