Can Goodman stop the bid?
takeover, has released healthy net half yearly profits of €38.3
million.
Australian consumer giant Goodman Fielder, the target of a hostile takeover, has released healthy net profits of €38.3 million for the six months ending December 2002. However, this may not be enough to stop a takeover bid by ingredients company Burns Philp, writes market analysts Datamonitor.
Burns Philp, which already owns a 19.9 per cent interest in Goodman Fielder, recently made an unsolicited off-market cash takeover bid for the company. Although its profits were up 2.6 per cent on the previous year, Goodman looks set to struggle to keep the takeover at bay, continues Datamonitor.
Current events are negatively impacting company growth. These include the Australian drought, which has caused wheat and oil prices to rocket. Wheat is the main ingredient of many of its goods including Uncle Tobys cereals and Buttercup bread.
In order to try and keep Burns Philp's bid at bay, the company recently announced it had hired a bank to help it to find an alternate bidder.
