Kingfisher-Bricolage deal foundering over planned store sales (updated)

Mr Bricolage SA

25/03/2015 18:38

(Adds details, source) 
    By Dominique Vidalon 
    PARIS, March 25 (Reuters) - Kingfisher's takeover of Mr 
Bricolage looked increasingly shaky  on Wednesday as the French 
DIY stores chain revealed its franchisee shareholders were 
unhappy with the number of stores the buyer planned to sell to 
win antitrust clearance. 
    On Tuesday, Kingfisher  KGF.L  , Europe's No. 1 home 
improvement retailer, had already cast doubt on the deal, which 
values Mr Bricolage at 275 million euros ($301 million)  
including debt. 
    It said it had been told that the majority of the board of 
Mr Bricolage  MBRI.PA  and majority shareholder ANPF, which is 
held by franchisees, had reservations about the deal. 
 ID:L6N0WQ1KY  
    "The Board of Directors of Mr Bricolage believes that had 
the commitments proposed by Kingfisher been implemented, it 
would have led a large number of stores under the Mr Bricolage 
and Les Briconautes brands to exit France definitively," Mr 
Bricolage said in a statement. 
    A source close to the matter said Kingfisher had proposed to 
sell about 60 stores in France to meet antitrust concerns, well 
beyond what had been anticipated by the French camp. Mr 
Bricolage has 797 stores in France, the bulk of them run by 
franchise holders. 
     In April 2014 Kingfisher entered exclusive talks with Mr 
Bricolage's two main shareholders to buy their shareholding for 
15 euros a share, subject to anti-trust clearance. 
    It was planning subsequently to make a mandatory offer to 
buy out minorities.  ID:nN0MV17N  
    Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q, the market leader in Britain, 
had proposed to buy 41.9 percent from Association Nationale des 
Promoteurs de Faites Le Vous-Meme (ANPF), a group of 
franchisees, and 26.2 percent from the Tabur family.  
    The deal would add Mr Bricolage to Kingfisher's Castorama 
and Brico Depot brands in France, its most profitable market. It 
was submitted to French competition authorities in late January. 
    Mr Bricolage said it now awaited Kingfisher's position. 
    Mr Bricolage said it would communicate about any 
developments regarding the merger plan as soon as possible. 
     Until then Mr Bricolage shares remain suspended. 
     The deal is seen as the first test for Kingfisher's new 
chief executive, Veronique Laury, who replaced Sir Ian Cheshire 
on Dec. 8 and is due to present 2014-15 results on March 31. 
         
     
 
 
($1 = 0.9122 euros) 
 
 (reporting by Andrew Callus and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by 
Michel Rose) 
 ((andrew.callus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.com; +33)(0)(1 49 49 
51 30 ; Reuters Messaging: 
andrew.callus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: MR BRICOLAGE KINGFISHER/