Kingfisher "considering all options" on Mr Bricolage deal

Mr Bricolage SA

26/03/2015 14:44

LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Kingfisher  KGF.L  said on 
Thursday it was considering all options regarding its proposed 
275 million euro ($300 million) takeover of France's Mr 
Bricolage  MBRI.PA  after the majority of the board and the 
largest shareholder of the target company expressed 
reservations. 
    Last July Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvement 
retailer, entered into a binding agreement with the principal 
shareholders of Mr Bricolage to buy their shareholdings subject 
to satisfactory anti-trust clearance. 
    Under the terms of the deal, Kingfisher would acquire 41.9 
percent of the share capital from the Association Nationale des 
Promoteurs de Faites Le Vous-Mene (ANPF), an organisation 
controlled by Mr Bricolage's franchisees, and 26.2 percent from 
the founding Tabur family. 
    Kingfisher had been working very closely with Mr Bricolage, 
the ANPF, the Tabur family and the ADLC, the French competition 
authority. 
    However, on Wednesday Mr Bricolage and the ANPF indicated 
that the undertakings in France required to obtain the 
competition clearance were no longer in their interests. 
 ID:nL6N0WR4US  
    "Without the consent of Mr Bricolage and the ANPF, the 
competition clearance undertakings necessary to finalise the 
transaction cannot be given," said Kingfisher. 
    "Kingfisher is considering all of its options." 
    Shares in Kingfisher were down 1.7 percent at 1434 GMT. 
Shares in Mr Bricolage were suspended in Paris on Monday. 
    ($1 = 0.9153 euros) 
 
 (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Neil Maidment) 
 ((james.davey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7674; Reuters 
Messaging: james.davey.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: MR BRICOLAGE M&A/KINGFISHER