- Latest offer is from MAFM at $1.295
- That is a half cent premium on last offer from Roc
- The asset sale alternative is $354M
The ongoing takeover war for the berry and citrus farm company Vitalharvest has been going since February when Roc Private Equity entered the fray, outbidding Macquarie Agricultural Funds Management (MAFM) by eight cents. The original offer was $1.00 per unit or $300 million, made by MAFM back in November 2020.
A week ago, Roc Private Equity presented Vitalharvest (ASX: VTH) with an offer for the company at $1.29, a one-cent premium to the previously accepted proposal from MAFM for $1.28.
Roc also said at the time that it will overbid any MAFM offer by 1 cent, subject to Roc having a five business day period to confirm whether it will proceed.
Today
Just before 10am today, Vitalharvest went into a trading pause, and at 11:20am the news came that MAFM had offered VTH $1.295 per Vitalharvest unit, a half a cent premium on the previous offer by Roc.
In the asset sale alternative, another million was added, that figure is now up to $354.575 million.
The takeover proposal is the ninth from MAFM, the seventeenth overall; it is also on substantially similar terms to the original proposal made by MAFM back in November last year.
Vitalharvest also announced that it had accepted the offer. The VFH board unanimously recommended that unitholders vote in favour of the proposal in the absence of a superior proposal.
Regarding the comment about one-cent premiums made by Roc Private Equity, Vitalharvest has since responded:
“VTH RE does not consider Roc’s indication that it intends to overbid any further offer by MAFM by the equivalent of $0.01 per unit to be a legally binding offer.”
Vitalharvest
“VTH RE does not know whether such an offer will be received or, if it is, whether Roc will seek to withdraw the offer in the 5 business day period Roc has specified. Should VTH RE receive any such further offer from Roc, VTH RE will consider it and update the market accordingly.”
