Goodman Fielder stock jumped to a 2 ½-month high after the world's biggest palm oil processor, Wilmar International, teamed up with Hong Kong-listed investor First Pacific Co to make an A$1.27 billion offer for the Australasian food ingredients maker.
Goodman's dual-listed shares rose 23 per cent to 71 cents on the NZX, the highest since Feb. 12, after Wilmar and First Pacific made a non-binding, conditional offer to buy the company via a scheme of arrangement. The Asian companies are offering 65 Australian cents a share, an 18 percent premium to last week's closing price on the ASX of 55 Australian cents, in what would be a 50/50 joint venture.
"The proposed transaction represents an opportunity for the Wilmar Group to create a leading Asia-Pacific agricultural and consumer stables company," Wilmar said in a statement to the Singapore Exchange.
Wilmar bought a 10 percent stake in Goodman in 2012, and registered interest in the food ingredients maker's assets which were up for sale at the time.
Goodman's board said the offer "materially undervalues" the company's assets and was opportunistic. Among the conditions were due diligence, unanimous recommendation by the Goodman Fielder board, approval from the Wilmar and First Pacific boards, and exclusivity in relation to the proposal.