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Unilever mum on new offer
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May 29, 2000: 11:14 a.m. ET
U.K. company declines comment on possible $70 per share Bestfoods bid
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Unilever PLC declined to comment Monday on recent press reports that it is preparing to raise its unsolicited takeover bid for U.S. diversified foods company Bestfoods by $4 per share.
A spokesman for the Anglo-Dutch consumer products maker called the rumor, first reported in the U.K. Sunday Telegraph, "quite speculative" and said the company still considers its original offer of $66 per share "fair."
"Our position still remains that we think our original offer is a good one," Unilever spokesman Tom Gordign said.
However, investors and analysts believe the pressure remains on Unilever to sweeten its $18.3 billion cash offer for the maker of Skippy peanut butter, Hellmann's mayonnaise and Knorr soups. Sources said the two sides have not held meaningful discussions since Unilever made its initial bid May 3, and investors clearly are souring on the likelihood of a possible deal.
 Since closing at 61-1/4 the day the offer was made public, Bestfoods (BFO: Research, Estimates) shares have climbed as high as 66-3/16, but closed Friday at 62-3/4.
Bestfoods, meanwhile, has talked to a number of possible merger partners, including U.K. food and drink company Diageo, hoping to fend off the unsolicited bid.
Still, analysts maintain a deal with Unilever ultimately will emerge, most likely with Unilever paying somewhere between $70 and $75 per share for the Englewood, N.J.-based company.
Few are willing to predict exactly when that might happen, though. Unilever Chairman Niall FitzGerald has publicly stated he does not want to pursue a hostile bid for the company, but has not ruled it out entirely. Gordign said Unilever officials are willing to open negotiations at any time.
A bid of $70 per share would value Bestfoods at $19.4 billion, not including debt. Analysts have said while a handful of companies, including the world's No. 1 food company, Nestle NA, have the financial firepower to offer a competing bid for Bestfoods, no company is better positioned to take it over because of their relative lack of overlapping products. 
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