KEY POINTS:
Graeme Hart is set to take over Swiss packaging giant SIG in a deal worth $3.3 billion after rival bidders announced they were withdrawing their offer.
Hart's Rank Group trumped an offer by Norwegian company FERD (owners of one of Europe's biggest packaging companies Elopak) and British Private Equity group CVC Partners over the weekend.
FERD said today it and CVC "aren't willing to pay a price for SIG that could compromise the business rationale of the transaction".
The company said it had divested shares amounting to 8.24 per cent of SIG, bringing the stake "held directly or indirectly" by Ferd and CVC to 2.3 per cent.
New Zealand's richest man revealed yesterday he had nabbed a 22 per cent stake in SIG in behind-the-scenes deals.
The Rank bid, of 435 Swiss francs per share, values the company at just over $3.3 billion. The previous bid by FERD was for 400 francs a share.
Rank group is sitting on about $3 billion in cash after selling the assets of Burns Philp Group and floating Goodman Fielder in 2004.
But bankers estimate that it could use that equity as leverage to raise as much as $12 billion for acquisitions.
SIG - which is listed on the Swiss stock exchange - has been the focus of a fierce takeover battle since Hart trumped FERD's bid in December.
Swiss takeover rules technically require a 98 per cent stake to be reached before a bidder can make a compulsory acquisition.
The European competition regulator had been taking a long look at the FERD offer due to the strong market position held by Elopak in Europe. It was not expected to rule until May.
If the EU had ruled against FERD it would give Hart the go-ahead at a lower price.
The 435-franc offer price is likely to have been determined by the price Hart paid for shares in his 22 per cent stake.
Swiss rules require that if a higher price is paid to any shareholders outside of the formal offer process, then that price must be offered to all shareholders.
Rank already has paper and packaging assets in Australasia, through its ownership of Carter Holt Harvey, and in the US.
The Swiss play is unlikely to be driven by the expectation of any great synergy benefits for his packaging empire. But there may be crossover benefits in the research and development, design and machining end.
Hart's Target
* SIG - a Swiss packaging company with history dating back to 1853.
* It has sales revenue of $2.5 billion and made a net profit of $125 million in 2006.
* Hart already owns Australasian paper and packaging group Carter Holt Harvey, with sales of about $600 million, as well as packaging operations in the US.
* His investment company Rank Group has cash reserves of almost $3 billion after the sale of Burns Philp assets.
* Hart's bid values the company at $3.3 billion.
- LIAM DANN / NZHERALD STAFF
