This year, Checkout commemorates its 40th anniversary under its current ownership, and with this in mind, every week, Retail Intelligence is going to ‘reel in the years’ and publish a story from our extensive archives. This article goes back to July 2002 when Budgens, more recently acquired by Booker, agreed to sell its operations to Musgrave.
The independent directors of Budgens have unanimously agreed to accept a cash offer from Musgrave to acquire the share capital of Budgens that it does not already own.
The deal sees Musgrave offer STG£1.35 in cash for each Budgens share that it does not already own. The deal translates to an offer worth STG £175 million (€275 million) for the remaining 55% of shares in the UK retail company.
According to a number of reports, this values Budgens at STG £231.6 million. The offer represents an 18.7% premium to the closing STG£ 113.8 pence middle market price on May 9, 2002, which was the previous date that Budgens had disclosed that it had received an offer from Musgrave.
Commenting on the offer Hugh Mackeown, chairman, Musgrave Group said; “Musgrave Group has made this step as part of its long-term strategy to expand its presence in the UK. Budgens has continued to perform well since our initial investment in August 2000.
"The Musgrave and Budgens management teams have collaborated on a number of successful initiatives that have had mutual benefits.”
The offer will be financed by a consortium of banks – these include Barclay’s Bank plc, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, and IIB Bank.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine
