The US private equity company trying to buy Morrisons Supermarkets (MRW) must raise its bid to about € 7.5 billion to earn the involvement of the board of the British supermarket, according to a top ten shareholder in the retailer. Parliament is likely to impose additional conditions to save the jobs etc.
Morrisons, the fourth largest British grocer after Tesco (FTSE:TSCO), Sainsbury’s (FTSE:SBRY) and Asda, this month rejected a € 6.4 billion bid from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R).
“In our opinion, there is validity for a bid…”, said JO Hambro, which manages funds that account for 3% of Morrisons. “We believe that any bid on the group that comes close to € 3.13/share deserves commitment and consideration.”
It’s likely that in such tense situation the Morrisons Supermarkets (FTSE:MRW) will be acquired by some of its national competitors, such as Sainsbury’s (FTSE:SBRY) or Tesco (FTSE:TSCO). International chains that are growing fast, e.g. Lidl may also make a bid. As for now another power player emerges provoking a rapid Morisons’ share Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) price growth over 11%. It is the US private equity group Apollo. It already owns a minor stake at the retailer.
Morrisons operates 500 stores and gives job to as much as 118,000 staff people in the UK.
