British supermarket chain Morrisons, at the heart of a £7 billion ($9.5 billion) bidding war, plans to hold a shareholder vote on the offer from U.S.-based private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) around 5 October, it said on Friday.
The company last week backed a 285 pence per share offer from CD&R, dropping a 272 pence per share bid from a consortium led by SoftBank Group-owned Fortress Investment Group.
Meeting Adjourned
The court and shareholder meetings on the Fortress offer, initially scheduled for Friday, have been adjourned to 5 October, Britain's fourth-largest grocer said in a statement.
The meetings on the higher CD&R offer are likely to take place on or around the same day.
The Morrisons board last week said it intends to unanimously recommend the CD&R offer.
Morrisons' stock price has hovered around the 290 pence level after agreeing to the CD&R offer on 19 August, reflecting the possibility that Fortress or any other suitor might come back with another offer.
News by Reuters edited by Donna Ahern, Checkout. For more Retail news click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
