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Shares in British supermarket chain Morrisons spiked higher Friday after New York-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice trumped a previous offer for the company with a 7 billion-pound ($9.5 billion) bid. Morrisons' board has accepted the offer and said shareholders should vote in favor of the takeover at a meeting due in early October. That means the company has withdrawn its recommendation for investors to accept a previous 6.7 billion-pound takeover deal from a consortium led by rival private equity firm Fortress, which said it was considering its options. The news of the new offer and the possibility of a continuation in the bidding war buoyed Morrisons' share price. In morning trading in London, it was up 4.3% at 291.20 pence. Morrisons is Britain's fourth-largest retailer, employing about 110,000 people in nearly 500 stores and over 300 gas stations. The new offer comes a week after CD&R was given an extended deadline until Friday afternoon by British ...
Morrisons, the UK's fourth-largest supermarket chain, has accepted a 6.3 billion-pound (USD 8.7 billion) takeover bid from a group of buyers led by Fortress Investment Group. The deal comes as investment firms look for opportunities in Britain, where the country's departure from the European Union and the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed on share prices. Just last month, Morrisons rejected an unsolicited offer of 5.5 billion pounds from New York-based Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, saying the bid undervalued the company. The group led by Fortress, a New York-based private equity firm, agreed to pay 254 pence per share for Morrisons, 42 per cent more than the shares were worth before the bid from Clayton Dubilier. The buyers also include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Koch Real Estate Investments. We have looked very carefully at Fortress' approach, their plans for the business and their overall suitability as an owner of a unique British food-maker and shopkeeper, said ...