Boparan tables 11th hour bid for Northern Foods

THE board of Northern Foods has dramatically turned its back on the firm’s proposed merger with Greencore after West Bromwich entrepreneur and Harry Ramsden owner Ranjit Boparan tabled a rival £342m bid.

The offer of 73p per share from BH Acquisitions is substantially higher than the 50p per share valuation under the terms of the Greencore tie-up that would have created a new company, Essenta Foods.

Mr Boparan, who bought fish and chip brand Harry Ramsden’s last year, said: “The combined group will be one of Britain’s major food suppliers with a turnover of more than £2bn.

“This will create significant opportunities which will benefit customers, consumers and employees.

“We look forward to working with the experienced Northern Foods team and combining our skills in product innovation and customer partnerships to create a larger business with enhanced prospects.”

The offer, late on Friday, came at the end of a day which saw the Takeover Panel extend by two hours the 5pm deadline it had previously set for Mr Boparan to make his intentions clear.

In a statement on Friday the Northern Foods board unanimously backed the proposed takeover and urged shareholders to vote against the merger with Irish convenience food group Greencore it had previously supported.

Northern Foods chairman Anthony Hobson said: ”This attractive cash offer provides shareholders with an immediate premium to the value of Northern Foods within Essenta Foods, the proposed merger with Greencore we announced in November 2010.

“Today’s (Friday) bid from Boparan is a compelling opportunity for our shareholders to realise a cash exit, and as such the board of Northern Foods will be unanimously recommending that Northern Foods Shareholders accept Boparan’s offer.”

Rothschild and Goldman Sachs are acting as joint financial advisers to BH Acquisitions and Boparan Holdings. UBS is acting as financial adviser and broker to Northern Foods.