One of the longest and noisiest takeover battles at the bottom end of the market has ended with French agri commodities giant Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) getting control of Namoi Cotton after the bid from Singapore-based rival, Olam Agri Holdings, lapsed.
LDC last week emerged as the winning bidder after lifting its offer price to 77 cents a share (value around $160 million) had lifted its stake in Namoi to 71.96%.
In a separate statement, Olam said in a separate filing that its 75 cents a share bid has lapsed on 8 October, meaning any Namoi shareholders who had submitted their shares in the offer are again free to deal with them.
Namoi’s independent directors as well as major shareholder Samuel Terry Asset Management have accepted the LDC offer.
LDC’s proposed acquisition has received clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as well as the Foreign Investment Review Board. Olam’s bid was facing problems from the ACCC.