Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Company Holdings Ltd had proven itself to be an attractive investment target in the dairy industry with the receipt of its third offer. Its second-largest shareholder, Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co Ltd, had offered a bid worth AUD420 million or USD405 million to acquire the dairy company. The new bid had also launched speculation that the Warrnambool dairy company could fetch an even higher offer.
Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co Ltd owned a 17% ownership interest in Warrnambool. It is currently offering AUD7.50 per share in cash. The offer had trumped the AUD7 per share bid from Saputo Inc of Canada and the AUD5.78 per share offer by local company Bega Cheese.
Canaccord Genuity senior industrials analyst Mark Topy said, "The question now is what Saputo does from here. Bega is an outside chance to bid higher... but Saputo, they're a big global company, they've got the pockets to bid higher."
Saputo said through its spokeswoman that it would be considering its options in light of the Murray Goulburn offer. Bega Executive Chairman Barry Irvin had told Reuters that it would conduct deliberations to decide on their next step regarding Murray Goulburn's bid.
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