Steinhoff gatecrashes Darty takeover by FNAC

2nd Mar 2016 09:15

(ShareCast News) - South Africa's Steinhoff International has sealed its reputation as a serial gatecrasher with a 125p offer for European electricals retailer Darty, even though it is in the midst takeover by France's FNAC.Darty confirmed on Wednesday that it had received a non-binding conditional takeover proposal from Steinhoff's French furniture retail subsidiary Conforama at 125p per share in cash, versus Tuesday's closing price of 115.25p.The Conforma/Steinhoff offer values Darty at £610m, close to the current value of FNAC's agreed offer in November, which has since been stuck in the mire of the European Union regulatory clearance process.FNAC offered one share for every 37 of Darty's, or a small partial cash alternative, which was originally worth around £558m but has improved as FNAC's shares have risen.Like Sainsbury's, FNAC is much smaller than the £14bn Steinhoff, which is backed by South African billionaire Christo Wiese.Darty said: "The company is currently reviewing the proposal received from Conforama. There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made by Conforama, nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be made. The board will issue a further statement if and when appropriate."The Darty board advised its shareholders to take no action in the meantime.Independent retail analyst Nick Bubb said: "Not content with barging into the Sainsbury/Argos deal, now Steinhoff are trying to break up the Darty/FNAC party."He added: "Why they've decided at this late hour to intervene is unclear, but the Darty/FNAC merger agreed back on November 20th is still bogged down in the process of EU regulatory clearance. Conforama is, of course, a combined electrical and furniture retail chain in France so it makes eminent sense to takeover Darty, given the synergies, although they too will have regulatory issues."FNAC is obviously a much smaller business than Steinhoff and its bid for Darty is in shares, so they will be hard pressed to beat away this rival bid."