Sovereign: fight or flight?
Country Bird could up its offer to buy the shares in Sovereign it doesn’t already own, or, as once before, give up the attempt
Will unlisted poultry group Country Bird Holdings (CBH) fly the coop at listed rival Sovereign Food Investments? Last week private equity firm Capitalworks made a surprise takeover play for Sovereign, in which a predatory CBH holds a commanding 34.1% stake. CBH has made it abundantly clear that it is determined to gain outright control of Sovereign after pitching a 900c/share takeover offer last year. But it can only make a new bid for Sovereign in mid-September. In the meantime Capitalworks has thrown the cat among the birds with a R12/share offer — a proposal that has received support from more than 50% of Sovereign’s shareholders, which include long-time institutional shareholders such as Prudential. On a fundamental basis the offer by Capitalworks, which has previous food sector experience through a 2012 investment in Rhodes Food Group, is attractive. The R12/share offer represents not only a premium to the volume weighted average price for Sovereign’s shares (30 days prior to t...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.