Greencore tells suitor to hop it

5th Dec 2011 11:03

Greencore, the Irish convenience food company, says discussions on a possible takeover, announced on 25 October, have ended.The identity of the suitor has remained secret although private equity firms keen to increase their exposure to the relatively low risk food industry were the main focus of rumours. Greencore, which supplies sandwiches to Marks and Spencer, says its board takes a "unanimous" view on the "strong underlying value" of the firm, even though the share price has fallen 52% since the start of the year.This under-performance is blamed on "dislocation in equity and debt markets".News that discussions have ended saw Greencore's stock fall 13.99% to 0.615p at 10:48am.BS