MVP seals Aussie deal on 2nd attempt

MANILA, Philippines—First Pacific Co. Ltd.—led by Filipino businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan—and Asian agribusiness group Wilmar International Ltd. have neutralized opposition to their joint takeover of Australia’s publicly listed food company Goodman Fielder after raising their bid by 7.7 percent to $1.37 billion.

Goodman Fielder told the Australian Stock Exchange late Friday that its board had accepted the revised offer from First Pacific and Wilmar, which agreed to raise their offer to A$0.70, allowing the Australian firm to pay final dividend of A$0.01 per share for the fiscal year ending June 30.

Last April, the Wilmar-First Pacific tandem submitted a nonbinding proposal to acquire all the shares of Goodman Fielder at A$0.65 per share, which was rejected by the board. The company said that the initial offer had “materially undervalued” Goodman Fielder and was “opportunistic.”

Goodman Fielder chair Steve Gregg said in a press statement on Friday: “Since the initial approach from Wilmar and First Pacific, the board has been focused on generating the best outcome which maximized value for our shareholders.”

In the absence of a superior proposal and subject to various other conditions, Gregg said the board believed this revised proposal was consistent with such objective of unlocking maximum values.

“We believe this revised proposal also demonstrates the strength of our underlying business and brands but also the opportunity to leverage these assets to grow the business across the Asian region,” Gregg said.

Wilmar and First Pacific were given non-exclusive access to due diligence over a period of four weeks.

Sydney-based Goodman and Fielder has portfolio of well-known consumer brands in some of Australia’s largest grocery categories, including Meadow Lea, Praise, White Wings, Pampas, Mighty Soft, Helga’s, Wonder White, Vogel’s (under license), Meadow Fresh and Irvines. It produces and markets bread, milk, margarine, flour, dressings, condiments, dips, mayonnaise, frozen pastry, cake mix, pies, savories, desserts, sauces, vinegar and cooking oils. It has number one or number two positions in most of the larger product categories in which it competes.

Goodman and Fielder employs over 6,000 people in Australasia and the Pacific Islands and manufactures its products in almost 50 plants in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Caledonia.

On the part of First Pacific, this deal marks a regional diversification of assets, bulk of which are currently invested in the Philippines through telecommunications (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.), infrastructure (Metro Pacific Investment Corp.) and mining (Philex Mining). The group has also been making investments recently in the sugar business Roxas Holdings and Victorias Milling Corp.).

Wilmar, on the other hand, is led by the diversified Kuok Group of Malaysia and Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland Co., one of the world’s largest agricultural processors of soya beans, corn, wheat and cocoa. It is also the leading manufacturer of bioenergy in the form of ethanol and biodiesel.