Akzo Nobel, the Dutch chemicals company, has improved its offer for British chemicals group, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) to more than $15.49 billion (£7.6bn) or 635 pence a share.
Earlier, Akzo Nobel had approached British company with $15.28 billion (£7.5bn) or 600p a share offer, but ICI rejected it saying it was too low. After discarded by the ICI, a Takeover Panel had fixed a deadline of August 9 to revive the bid, but company filed its bid before the allotted time limit, which shows its strong determination to merge with British chemicals group.
It is understood that many Akzo shareholders would have supported management to offer 625p a share and that virtually all of the larger shareholders would withdraw support for any offer over 660p. Leading ICI investors, including Standard Life, which holds about 6 percent of the British manufacturer of the Dulux paint range, have stated their opposition to any offer pitched below 700p.
Akzo-Nobel has hired Morgan Stanley for advice, wherein ICI is working with Merrill Lynch and UBS. Both the companies have declined to comment on the latest development, but the deal seems to take few other oscillations before reaching any conclusion.
After ICI, other bidders like BASF of Germany and Dow Chemical of the US have shown their interest in the British company, but neither has projected any offer yet.
This week, Akzo reported second-quarter net profit of $371.02 million (£182m), compared to $376.68 million, down by 25 per cent last year, mainly due to the impact of a divestment program. Akzo’s plans are unlikely to be affected by ongoing concerns about the lack of availability of credit, as it would largely be financed by cash, much of it from the £11bn it raised in March from the sale of its pharmaceuticals business to Schering-Plough, the US Company.
Via: Telegraph
