Boparan handed deadline for Northern Foods offer
The entrepreneur, who made his name by selling poultry products to Tesco and Waitrose, has been told by the City's Takeover Panel to clarify a statement made last month that he was mulling a bid for Northern Foods - whose brands also include Goodfella's pizzas and Matthew Walker Christmas puddings.
A 300 million offer from Boparan, who also owns the Harry Ramsden's fish and chip restaurant chain, could potentially derail Northern Foods' agreed tie-up with Greencore on which shareholders are due to vote on 31 January. The deal would create a new company called Essenta with annual sales of about 1.7 billion.
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Hide AdNorthern Foods yesterday repeated its support for the Greencore deal. It said: "The board continues to believe that the proposed merger with Greencore Group … offers substantial benefits for its shareholders, customers and employees and will create a convenience foods business with a strong platform for further growth and the potential to realise significant cost savings through synergies."
In November Boparan more than doubled his holding in Northern Foods to 6.6 per cent.