Australia's Namoi Cotton asks shareholders to reject Louis Dreyfus $92 mln bid (updated)

Namoi Cotton

22/05/2024 01:04

(Adds details and background from paragraph 2 onwards)
       May 22 (Reuters) - Namoi Cotton  NAM.AX  on Wednesday
asked shareholders to reject Dutch commodity merchant Louis
Dreyfus' A$138.6 million ($92.39 million) offer to take full
control of the cotton ginning firm, citing a better offer by
Singapore's Olam Agri  IPO-OLAA.SI .
    Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has been engaged in a bidding
war for Namoi Cotton with Olam Agri, which had previously made
an offer valuing the Australian company at A$144.9 million.
    "LDC Offer price of A$0.67 per share is A$0.03 below the
Olam Offer price per share," Namoi said in a statement.
    An independent expert concluded that LDC's offer was not
fair and reasonable in light of Olam's offer, the company added.
    Namoi's recommendation comes when LDC, which owns around 17%
stake in the company, was already facing regulatory hurdles
regarding its proposal, after the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission flagged its concerns last week.
    Namoi is still assessing Olam Agri's offer and has made no
recommendation regarding the same. 
    A deal would help both the bidders expand their footprint in
Australia. Olam already owns ginning facilities in parts of the
country, whereas Louis Dreyfus previously acquired U.S. based
Dunavant Enterprises' cotton operations in Australia.
    
($1 = 1.5002 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao in Bengaluru; Editing by
Rashmi Aich)
 ((Aaditya.GovindRao@thomsonreuters.com;))