Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory (WCB), the Australian dairy firm, has criticised one of its suitors, Murray Goulburn and insisted its rival’s takeover bid under-valued the business.

Earlier today, dairy co-op Murray Goulburn revealed itself as one of two bidders for WCB and said its offer was a “very attractive proposal” for the company and had been made at a “fair price”.

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However, WCB reacted strongly and slammed Murray Goulburn’s offer, which it claimed priced the business “at or slightly below” A$4 a share.

WCB insisted Murray Goulburn had “sought to opportunistically” buy the business; shares in WCB closed at A$3.32.

“The indicative value proposed by Murray Goulburn does not reflect WCB’s medium- and long-term prospects, current and future initiatives, unique geographic location and strategic position in the Australian dairy industry,” WCB said.

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“Murray Goulburn’s indicative proposal was not the highest indicative price proposed – despite the material synergies available to Murray Goulburn from acquiring WCB.”

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WCB claimed a sale to Murray Goulburn would hit competition in Australia’s dairy sector, which would be to the detriment of milk suppliers.

The company, which said last month that it had received two bids for the business, maintained it had the backing from investors to reject both offers.

“WCB appreciates the strong support the company has received from our shareholders and farmer suppliers since it first announced the takeover approaches in December,” it said.

“Feedback from shareholders has been overwhelmingly supportive of the board’s decision to reject the two proposals. Suppliers remain supportive of WCB and the number of milk supplier farms continues to improve.”