MRW Morrison (wm) Supermarkets Plc

   By Adria Calatayud 
 

Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC has agreed to a takeover offer from Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC that values it at seven billion pounds ($9.55 billion), withdrawing its recommendation of a previous bid from a consortium led by SoftBank Group Corp.'s Fortress Investment Group LLC.

The U.K. grocer and U.S. private-equity firm CD&R said late Thursday that they have reached an agreement on the terms of a cash offer of 285 pence a share. This compares with the latest offer from the Fortress-led consortium of 272 pence a share, and also represents a 2.1% premium to Morrisons's Thursday closing price of 279.20 pence.

In response, Fortress said it is considering its options in respect of its own offer. A further announcement will be made in due course, Fortress added.

The grocer's directors intend to recommend unanimously that Morrisons shareholders vote in favor of the CD&R bid at a coming meeting, the companies said. As a result, the U.K. grocer said its directors have withdrawn their recommendation for an earlier bid from the Fortress-led consortium.

CD&R is committed to supporting Morrisons's existing management team in continuing to execute its strategy, the companies said.

The new offer from CD&R marks the latest episode in a bidding war for Morrisons, Britain's fourth-largest grocery operator.

Morrisons in June said it had rejected an initial proposal of GBP5.5 billion from CD&R because it significantly undervalued the business.

In July, New York-based Fortress joined forces with the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board and the real-estate arm of Koch Industries, a private conglomerate headed by billionaire Charles Koch, to make a GBP6.3 billion offer for Morrisons. On July 28, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund agreed to join that group of investors to bid for Morrisons, and the consortium's offer was raised to GBP6.7 billion on Aug.6.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 20, 2021 02:46 ET (06:46 GMT)

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