Somerfield now left with only one bidder |
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Published
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Sun, 09 Oct 2005 13:05
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LONDON: London & Regional Properties Ltd. one of the bidders for Somerfield Plc., has withdrawn, virtually paving the way for the consortium comprising private equity firm Apax Partners, investment bank Barclays Capital, and Iranian property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz, to claim the British supermarket chain.
Britain's Takeover Panel has fixed 14 October as the deadline for offers to acquire the supermarket chain, the bids for which actually began in March with Iceland's retailing company Baugur making a 1.04 billion pound offer. Baugur has since withdrawn. The delay in finalising the deal has been due to the complicated assessment for Somerfield's properties, which is critical to any potential buyer. Any finance from third parties to fund the acquisition could be entirely based on the buildings owned by the company, some 1300 in number.
According to sources, London & Regional, controlled by big time property dealers, the Livingstone brothers, withdrew from the bid as Rochdale-based retailing firm United Cooperatives indicated it is not wanting to buy 500 Somerfield stores as planned earlier. London & Regional has been working with Japan's Nomura Bank for the deal. There were indications that the offer would be around 1 billion pounds.
The company later said it reserves the right to make an offer if it gets the recommendation of the company's board or if the consortium or any third party makes a bid.
Meanwhile, sources familiar with the deal said the Tchenguiz consortium has received a clearance from the pensions regulator to pay off Somerfield’s 112.3 million-pound pension deficit under an accelerated scheme. Tchenguiz is known to have bought Somerfield shares at 190 pence recently and under City regulations, any offer from the consortium cannot be lower than this price.
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