25th Apr 2016 14:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - French retailer Groupe Fnac SA on Monday said it acquired more shares in UK-listed electronics retailer Darty PLC and tabled a final offer for the company following the bidding war which broke out last week.
Fnac said it had acquired another 48.7 million Darty shares for 170.00 pence per share, taking its total holding in the company to around 16.5%. The new offer values Darty at around GBP900.3 million.
Fnac then said, shortly after its first statement, it had acquired further shares in Darty, taking its total holding up to 17.7% of its issued share capital, before later in the afternoon revealing another purchase which has taken its stake to around 18.3%.
The French group also said it has made a third and final offer to acquire Darty at 170.00p per share, with a partial share alternative of one Fnac share for every 25 Darty shares held.
Fnac added that it now either holds or has received irrevocable undertakings to accept the third offer in respect of a total of 213.9 million Darty shares, representing 40.4% of Darty's issued share capital.
The final offer from Group Fnac comes after Darty was the subject of a rapid bidding battle last week involving rival bidder Steinhoff International Holdings NV, the South African furniture and household goods company.
The last bid Steinhoff made was for 160.00p per share in cash. Steinhoff said in a statement later on Tuesday it was considering its position after the new Groupe Fnac bid. Steinhoff is making the offer through Conforama, the French homewares chain it owns.
Darty shares were up 4.8% to 170.75 pence on Monday afternoon.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Update By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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