Couche-Tard has said it will not raise its offer in its takeover bid for Norway’s Statoil Fuel and Retail (SFR).
The Canadian c-store retailer said yesterday (11 June) its NOK53 (US$8.87) per share all-cash offer, which values SFR at NOK15.9bn, is and will remain, its “best and final offer”.
Last week, Couche-Tard waived all conditions attached to its takeover bid for SFR in a bid to push the acquisition through at the current price. The firm has already prolonged its offer deadline twice, having failed to obtain the 90% acceptance level that it stipulated when the bid was launched.
“We understand that certain investors and shareholders of Statoil Fuel & Retail could believe we may eventually increase our offer,” said Couche-Tard CEO Raymond Pare. “Considering we will be settling on 19 June any shares validly tendered by tomorrow, we thought it would prove important to clarify any remaining misperception or misunderstanding with respect to our intentions.
Pare said the company is “very confident” that it will reach the said 90% threshold by 20 June given its cash offer has become “even more attractive in the context of increasingly challenging market conditions and mostly because of the momentum we have recently witnessed with some key shareholders of Statoil Fuel & Retail’s who have decided to tender their shares so as to benefit from a rapid settlement”.

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