By Agency Reporter

Wednesday, 15 Dec 2010

JOHANNESBURG: Japan‘s Kansai Paint has offered to buy all the shares it does not own in South Africa‘s Freeworld Coatings, at $262m.

A Reuters report on Tuesday said the “bid could potentially lead to a hostile takeover.”

Osaka-based Kansai said in a statement on Monday it would offer 12 rand per share for the 72.4 per cent stake in Freeworld it does not already own.

The price represents a 17 per cent premium to Freeworld‘s closing price of 10.25 rand on Friday.

The deal would give Kansai, which has operations in 18 countries, a foothold in South Africa and an opportunity to expand on the fast-growing continent.

Kansai, currently Freeworld‘s top shareholder, said several attempts to communicate with the board of the South African firm had been unsuccessful. Freeworld has said ownership by Kansai would raise competition-related concerns.

”As a consequence of the reluctance of the Freeworld board to engage, Kansai believes that Freeworld‘s shareholders be given the opportunity to consider the offer, and has therefore decided to proceed with the offer without the co-operation of the Freeworld board,” Kansai said in a statement.

Freeworld in June rejected a takeover bid from private equity firm Brait of 10.45 rand per share.

Shares of Freeworld surged 11.3 per cent to 11.41 rand as on Monday.

”If the board members can‘t get a say in what they actually want, there‘s a chance that this deal might not go ahead, and I guess that‘s where the concern is,” a trader at Thebe Securities, Ms. Mitchell Gannaway said.

A Freeworld spokesman said the company would be issuing a statement in the near future and would be able to comment then.

The deal would be worth nearly 1.8 billion rand ($262m) and would value Freeworld at around 2.4 billion rand, according to Reuters calculations.

 

Source: Punch