CD&R wins Morrisons takeover auction with £7bn bid
Private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) outbid Fortress Investment Group for the supermarket chain in an auction held on 2nd October.
Morrisons’ Board of directors accepted a £6.7 billion offer from a US private equity consortium led by Fortress in July, before backing a £7 billion offer from private equity firm CD&R, also US-based, in August.
As part of the auction, Fortress initially offered 286p per Morrisons ordinary share, while CD&R offered 287p – which amounts to an offer of roughly £7 billion.
Chairman of Morrisons, Andrew Higginson, said that the offer by CD&R represented “excellent value for shareholders” while equally protected “the fundamental character of Morrisons for all stakeholders.”
Higginson went on to say that the buying company has a “strong record of developing and growing the businesses in which they invest” and that it shares the current management’s “vision and ambition for Morrisons.”
The final offer will be voted on by shareholders on 19th October.
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