Benckiser to Buy Master Blenders for $9.8 Billion

Nigel Thomas
12 Apr, 2013
New York City

oh. A. Benckiser agreed to buy Master Blenders for

[R]3:00 PM Frankfurt – Joh. A. Benckiser agreed to buy Master Blenders for €7.5 billion or $9.8 billion of the rest of the Dutch coffee company. Volkswagen reported China sales surged in March.[/R]

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.3% or 20.5 to 6,396 and in Frankfurt the DAX index dropped 1.2% to 93.6 to 7,778.

In Paris, CAC 40 index slumped 0.8% or 31.4 to 3,744.

Aggreko Plc gained 2.55 to 1,805 pence after the UK based power and temperature control solution provider reported first quarter group revenues climbed 8% in the three months to March. Local business grew “very strong start to the year” with 17% more power on rent from a year ago. Net debt increased by £4 million to £597 million in the three months to March 31.

Breedon Aggregates Limited climbed 7.6% to 24.49 pence after the UK based construction raw materials provider agreed to acquire certain assets from landscaping specialist Marshalls Plc for consideration of £17.5 million in cash.

CPPGroup Plc slipped 1.9% to 4.40 pence after the UK based business service provider reported lenders agreed to a one week extension of credit facility to April 19.

A credit card insurer fined £10.5 million for mis-selling insurance.

D.E Master Blenders 1753 NV fell 0.7% to €12.14 after the Netherlands based tea and coffee industry said investor group led by Joh. A. Benckiser agreed to buy the company for approx €7.5 billion or $9.8 billion in cash per ordinary share.

The Germany based consumer products conglomerate Joh. A. Benckiser already controlled 15% of the holding company.

The offer price of €12.50 a share represents a 36% premium to company’s volume-weighted average closing price for the three months to March 27. The stock edged lower today because the potential deal was announced on March 28 with the price of €12.75 a share.

Benckiser is funding the deal with €4.9 billion of equity and €3 billion of debt.

Investment vehicle controlled by Reimann family of Germany recently acquired Caribou Coffee and Peet’s Coffee & Tea for a combined price of $1.3 billion.

Mothercare plc rose 0.9% to 318.50 pence after the UK based wholesaler said worldwide network sales in the fourth quarter jumped 6.9% and total group sales dropped 4.8%. Total UK sales declined 5.1% and international retail sales surged 15.5%.

The company added direct in home sales soared 18.2%.

Volkswagen AG dropped 3.8% to €140 after the German automobile maker reported global sales growth slowed in March.

The deliveries increased 21.3% to 770,000 units to Chinese customer and 598,100 delivered units in the rest of the world.

Audi exceeded the threshold of 100,000 units after only three months for the first time in 25 years in China.

The Volkswagen group delivered 2.27 million vehicles an increase of 5.1% from January to March.

The company handed over 864,400 vehicles, a growth of 0.2% to customers in the month of March.