2nd UPDATE: Casino's Super De Boer Gets Approach From Jumbo
18 9월 2009 - 8:15PM
Dow Jones News
Netherlands-based supermarket chain Super de Boer NV (SDB.AE),
which is majority-owned by France's Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA
(CO.FR), said Friday it received a takeover offer from Dutch peer
Jumbo Groep Holding BV that values it at EUR560 million.
Super de Boer said that Jumbo is offering to pay EUR4.20 per
share and that Casino, which holds around 57% in the company, will
support the offer if Super de Boer's management and supervisory
board approve it.
The offer values Casino's stake at an estimated EUR300 million,
which would result in a "slight capital gain" for the French
retailer, a Casino spokeswoman said Friday. The sale would be part
of Casino's plans to sell EUR1 billion in assets by the end of next
year, she added.
Super de Boer shares soared following the news. Around 1045 GMT,
they traded 18.6%+ higher at EUR4.14, while the midcap market in
Amsterdam was up 0.7%.
Analysts were surprised by the takeover offer.
Jumbo's bid for Super de Boer "appears expensive", said SNS
Securities analyst Richard Withagen. He upgraded the stock to hold
from sell.
KBC Securities considered Royal Ahold NV's (AH.AE) Albert Heijn
unit to be the most likely buyer of Super de Boer and said it
wouldn't be surprised if the Dutch retail giant will make a counter
bid. The brokerage also doesn't rule out Schuitema, a supermarket
operator owned by U.K.'s private equity firm CVC Capital Partners
Ltd, to make a bid.
However, Albert Heijn is not interested in buying Super de Boer,
spokesman Jan Christiaan Hellendoorn told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Albert Heijn hasn't made an offer to buy Super de Boer and is
absolutely not planning to do so", he said, adding that Ahold could
be interested in acquiring 50 Super de Boer stores "at most", to
add to Albert Heijn's current portfolio.
Schuitema wasn't immediately available for comment.
Company Web Sites: www.superdeboer.nl;
http://www.groupe-casino.com/;
By Maarten van Tartwijk; Dow Jones Newswires; +31-20-5715-200;
maanrten.vantartwijk@dowjones.com
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