DuPont Co. (DD), the third-biggest U.S. chemical maker, through its wholly owned subsidiary DuPont Denmark Holding ApS, announced that it has raised its $5.8 billion offer for Danish food-additives producer Danisco to $6.63 billion in what it called a best and final proposal.
Friday night, only a few minutes before the offer period expired, DuPont raised its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Danisco to 700 Danish kroner ($139) a share, up from a Jan. 9 proposal of 665 kroner ($132) a share. DuPont’s final offer represents a 67% premium compared to the average price of Danisco’s shares in the 12 months prior to the Jan. 9 announcement.
DuPont also said it was extending the offer period for the last time to May 13. The Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont reduced the minimum number of shares required to be tendered to 80% from 90% in order to close the tender. All other terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged.
DuPont is proposing to pay 21x Danisco’s estimated EPS in the year through April 2012, according to the average profit estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
“These terms represent our best and final offer,” DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman said in a statement. “This increase in the offer price and reduced minimum tender requirement will allow shareholders to tender with confidence, given the premium value and certainty of this offer. We believe the positive outlook and strong recent performances of both companies support these final terms and we remain confident this will bring the transaction to a successful and swift conclusion.”
On Friday, Danisco shares rose 13.5 kroner ($2.68), or 2.1 percent, to 668 kroner ($132) in Copenhagen trading. DuPont, gained 4 cents to $56.79 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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