Italian pasta giant Barilla has upped its takeover offer for German bakery group Kamps to €12.5 (US$11.1) per share and Kamps management has accepted the bid.
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Chairman Heiner Kamps, the largest single shareholder in the eponymous group, said today [Tuesday] that he would sell his stake. Having already spoken to institutional investors, Kamps expressed confidence that a majority supported the Barilla bid and were prepared to sell their stakes.
Management had earlier rejected a previous offer of €12 per share as “far too low”, although analysts deemed it “good”. Holding out for a higher offer seems to have paid off for the group, however.
Heiner Kamps will remain chairman of the company, which will continue as an independent legal entity, with its current management and head office in Düsseldorf.
Barilla, which is privately held, has for some time been eyeing Kamps as an attractive investment opportunity because of its strong presence in markets including Germany and France, which it says complements the Italian group’s own strongholds in southern Europe and Scandinavia. The deal would lift Barilla’s sales by about two-thirds.
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By GlobalDataBarilla has said it wants to operate Kamps, which runs an extensive chain of retail bakeries, as a third division alongside its main Barilla-brand baked goods and pasta unit and its GranMilano frozen products business.
Meanwhile, Kamps has reported Q1 losses of €14.5m, following a net profit of €1.7m, due to charges related to a debt refinancing package. Profits after tax before exceptional items were €1.4m, while debt stood at €783m at the end of the quarter.
