Australia’s largest salmon farmer Tassal Group rejected a takeover bid from Canadian aquaculture business Cooke Inc, saying the offer did not reflect the full value of the company.
It was the third offer from the company, increasing its offer from $4.67 on 26 May, $4.80 on 6 June to the latest bid of $4.85 per share on 27 June. That price put a 22 per cent premium on the stock’s closing price of $3.97 on 27 June and has Cooke valuing Tassal at $1 billion.
Tassal’s board said the indicative proposal didn’t reflect the value of the business and was not in shareholders’ best interests.
Cooke said it was “keen to undertake the transaction on a friendly basis with an endorsement from Tassal’s board of directors, and therefore has proposed that the transaction occur by way of a Tassal scheme of arrangement”.
The impact of the bid was immediate, with the seafood supplier and processor’s share price jumping 16 per cent to $4.61.
Tassal is being advised by Goldman Sachs and Herbert Smith Freehills.
Cooke said it was being advised by Kidder Williams, an advisory firm owned by David Williams, who advised the Canadian company on its acquisition bid for Huon Aquaculture last year. That became a showdown between Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang and JBS, which ultimately bought the company for $425 million.
Williams has a long history with Tassal, going back to 2003 when the company was into receivership, and he floated it on the ASX.
On 22 June, institutional investor Yarra Capital disposed of more than 12 million shares, worth $42.45 million.
On 24 June, entities related to Cooke bought 11.5 million shares, giving the company 5.4 per cent voting power. Cooke revealed that the shares had been bought by a nominee for the entities, Amore Foods
Amore Foods is a private company that lists Williams as its sole director and secretary. Amore Foods is owned by Kidder Peabody, which also lists Williams as its only director and secretary.
