Greencore shares fall as talks with possible buyer come to end

TALKS BETWEEN Greencore and a prospective buyer have terminated without agreement, the company said yesterday, sending the share price sharply lower.

Blaming current market turmoil – in particular the difficulty in securing debt finance on capital markets – Greencore also hinted at the inability to reach an agreed price for the business.

“Given the board’s unanimous view on the strong underlying value of Greencore and the current dislocation in global equity and debt capital markets, both parties have agreed to end discussions”, Greencore said in a statement.

Greencore will publish full-year results this morning.

The company surprised the market six weeks ago by announcing it had received a preliminary takeover approach, believed to have been from a US private equity firm.

At the time it was still in the final stages of completing its takeover of British food group Uniq.

Greencore had been trading at a discount to its peers, but has seen its share price rise since the announcement of the preliminary takeover approach. It closed at 71 cent on Friday.

Shareholders were offered 46 cent per new share offered in the company’s recent rights issue to fund the takeover of Uniq.

Greencore’s shares hit highs of more than €1.30 in January, when its proposed merger with British rival Northern Foods, announced over a year ago, was still expected to take place. The merger was ultimately derailed by an offer from businessman Ranjit Boparan, who took the British company private.

In July Greencore announced it was to buy British company Uniq for €128.5 million. The acquisition, which is to see Greencore move its listing to the UK but keep its headquarters in Dublin, is expected to lead to more than £10 million in cost-saving synergies.

Uniq was put on the market in April after the company’s pension fund trustees took control of 90 per cent of the company by way of an unusual equity-for-debt swap, in a bid to deal with the company’s £400 million-plus pension deficit.