DuPont extends Danisco tender offer period to 1 April

18 February 2011 10:30  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--DuPont is extending the tender offer period relating to its acquisition of Danisco to leave more time to obtain regulatory approvals and clearances from competition authorities in the EU and China, the US-based company said on Friday.

The extended offer period will end on 1 April at 23:00 Central European Time (22:00 GMT), unless further extended, the company said.  

"We are pleased with our progress at this stage in the tender offer period. We continue to move forward with regulatory approvals and remain confident that Danisco shareholders will continue to tender their shares as this process progresses," said DuPont chair and CEO Ellen Kullman.  

"With clearance by the US authorities completed and other regulatory approvals moving forward, we continue to expect the offer to be completed early in the second quarter," she added.

All other terms and conditions of the offer remain unchanged, it added.  

The Danish kroner (Dkr) 665 ($121, €89) per share offer price represents a premium of 58.7% compared to the average price of Danisco's shares in the 12 months prior to the announcement of the acquisition agreement, 32.5% compared to the average price during the last month prior to the announcement, and 25.5% compared to closing price on the last trading day prior to the announcement, said DuPont.

The company said that as of the close of business on 17 February, it estimated that Danisco shareholders had tendered around 5% of the outstanding shares to DuPont, in line with similar past voluntary tender offers in Denmark.

DuPont said it would buy Danish food ingredients company Danisco for $6.3bn on 9 January and the tender offer started on 21 January.

On 28 January DuPont announced the expiration of the US antitrust waiting period in connection with the offer, and on 9 February Danisco said that all members of the executive board and the board of directors had tendered their shares.

($1 = Dkr5.49, €1 = Dkr7.45)

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Hilde Ovrebekk
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly