SHV holding offers billions for feed firm Nutreco

21-10-2014 | Home | News

Investment company SHV Holdings is willing to pay €2.7 billion for Dutch feed company Nutreco (€40 per share). But experts say that maybe more companies will be interested in buying the multinational.

The offer, which was released on Monday, is fully supported by the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Nutreco. “The intended offer is driven by the long term growth perspective of both companies. SHV fully supports Nutreco in executing its growth plans and geographical expansion through its global presence and expertise. Being a private family-held company with a true long-term focus and commitment, SHV has the financial strength to support Nutreco’s growth, based on a prudent finance policy,” according to the official statement.

However, market experts said this is just the begin, the Dutch press agency ANP reports. They spoke of a surprising move by SHV and unanimously called the offer a sharply priced one. But they also expect that the €40 per share will not be the final price and that maybe more companies are interested in acquiring Nutreco. They named Cargill as one of the options.

SHV approached Nutreco about four weeks ago, according to CEO Knut Nesse. He expects that the offer will be submitted later in the fourth quarter, meaning the possible completion of the acquisition can take place in the first quarter of 2015. SHV is planning to keep the head office in the Netherlands, to maintain the brand and not to break down the company in to different assets.

On Monday, Nutreco released its interim trading figures. Sales in the third quarter fell 4.1% to over €1.4 billion. The drop was partly due to the negative currency impact. The company predicts that the operating result (EBITA) will be equal to that of last year (€256.3 million).

If SHV acquire Nutreco, the Dutch feed company will no longer be a listed company.