- Roc binding offer deemed superior yesterday
- MAFM notified matching right period commenced, also revised offer to $1.12
- Further assessment of offer from MAFM pending
What’s happened thus far
Vitalharvest (ASX: VTH) has seen the takeover bidding battle extend over a number of months now, the original offer made by Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management (MAFM) in mid-November 2020.
In February, Roc Private Equity offered $1.08 per unit, effectively upping the MAFM offer. The bidding war then played out week by week, VTH announcing Roc would be a likely candidate, followed by MAFM equalling the Roc bid, Roc raising their bid again, this time to $1.12 per unit, and failing that, a $322.2 million purchase of VTH assets.
A short while later, Vitalharvest came out with a similar statement to a previous one about warming to Roc, this time again deeming the new Roc offer a likely superior proposal.
Today’s announcement
Following the binding offer made by Roc Private Equity on 31 March 2021, the Vitalharvest Board has since determined (yesterday) that “the binding proposal received from Roc… to acquire all the units in VTH for $1.12 per unit or the assets for $322.2m is a superior proposal to the MAFM proposal”.
This is of course subject to a matching right process, Vitalharvest notified MAFM of the determination on 6 April 2021.
Vitalharvest stated that on the same day, Macquarie further revised its offer, increasing the “scheme consideration from $1.08 per unit to $1.12 per unit and, in the asset sale alternative, from $314.8M to $322.2M.”
The Board is now assessing the revision.
