Saputo Inc. (SAP), Canada’s largest milk processor, raised its offer for Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co. (WCB) to A$515 million ($472 million), beating two rival bids for Australia’s oldest dairy producer.
Saputo will pay A$9.20 cash a share, up from A$9 a share, on condition it gains more than 50 percent of Warrnambool, the Montreal-based company said today in a statement. The offer trumps a A$9 bid from Murray Goulburn Cooperative Co. and a cash and share offer from Bega Cheese Ltd. (BGA)
The three-way contest for 125-year-old Warrnambool, based near the town in Victoria that bears its name, has more than doubled the target’s market value in the two months since Bega, its largest shareholder, made an initial offer. Bidders are pursuing greater scale to help them tap rising demand for dairy produce, including milk powder, in Asia’s emerging nations.
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