Nabisco in $2B cookie bid?
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December 13, 1999: 6:28 a.m. ET
Report: Nabisco and buyout firm combine to bid for U.K.'s United Biscuits
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LONDON (CNNfn) - A combination of buyout firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Nabisco Holdings is considering a last-minute attempt to acquire Britain's United Biscuits in a 1.24 billion pound ($2 billion) deal, according to a press report Monday.
Such a deal would thwart competing offers from rivals, in particular a financial consortium, according to the Wall Street Journal Monday.
The newspaper reported the Nabisco/Hicks offer would be worth 248 pence per share, and would trump the current highest bid for United of 245 pence per share. The leading bidder is a consortium involving Paribas and Deutsche Bank (FDTE), among others.
United put itself up for auction in October.
The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said Hicks, Muse and Nabisco (NA) had decided to pool their efforts after previous separate attempts to raise an offer by both firms had fallen down. Neither firm would comment to the newspaper.
United recently sold its frozen food business to H.J. Heinz (HNZ) for $317 million, and the newspaper reported that analysts and shareholders were looking for an offer worth more than 260 pence per share for the whole company. However, as potential buyers have pored over the books they have lowered the price they are willing to pay, according to the newspaper.
United shares rose 2 pence to 229 pence in London Monday.
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United Biscuits
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