UK's Lonrho gets buyout offer at nearly double its value
British industrial group Lonrho Plc said it received a £174.5-million ($266.2-million) buyout offer at a premium of 97.1% from a company controlled by Swiss billionaire Thomas Schmidheiny and investor Rainer-Marc Frey.
Africa-focussed conglomerate Lonrho said the newly created investment vehicle, FS Africa, offered to pay 10.25p per share.
Lonrho shares, which closed at 5.2p on the LSE on Tuesday, rose 87.5% to 9.75p in early trading on Wednesday.
"It's a reasonable offer," Daniel Stewart analyst Michael Campbell said. The offer is around the company's annual revenue, he added.
FS Africa, which controls 19.9% in Lonrho together with certain parties, is a consortium comprising Rainer-Marc Frey and BIH SA, owned by Schmidheiny who was termed the fourth richest man in Switzerland by Forbes magazine in 2012.
Lonrho, whose businesses range from agribusiness to hotels, is a majority holder of carrier FastJet and owner of seafood production company Oceanfresh Seafoods.
FS Africa has received commitments from certain Lonrho directors and shareholders who represent roughly 18% of issued share capital to vote for the deal.
Lonrho's shares have fallen more than a third since this year.
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