Investors are clamouring to buy Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket group
Sir ken morrison took over his father’s market stalls in Bradford in 1952, 53 years after they started selling eggs and butter. Soon he was running one grocery shop, and then many. In 1967 Morrisons went public, in a share offering that was 174 times oversubscribed.
Now Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket chain—and the poshest of its budget outlets—is in high demand once more, this time from bidders seeking to take it private again. On June 14th Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (cd&r), an American private-equity group, offered £2.30 ($3.25) a share, a 31% premium to the closing price the previous day. The board turned its nose up at the bid, saying that it “significantly undervalued Morrisons and its future prospects”. But on July 3rd it accepted a rival offer of £2.54 from a consortium led by Fortress, another private-equity group. That values Morrisons at £9.5bn, including £3.2bn of debt.
Read more/Source: The Economist
