(Reuters) – Unieuro’s board of directors failed to agree on the price of a takeover bid from Fnac Darty and Ruby Equity Investment, the Italian consumer electronics retailer said on Thursday.
The offer, for 9 euros in cash and 0.1 newly issued ordinary Fnac Darty share for each Unieuro share, was considered fair by only five directors, with another five deeming it unfair, and one director abstaining from the vote.
Unieuro also raised some “critical issues” regarding the reasons for the offer, future plans and any following extraordinary transactions, the statement said.
Fnac Darty and Ruby Equity Investment took note of Unieuro’s stance, recalling in a statement that their offer “represents an attractive 42% premium over the unaffected (volume-weighted average price) of Unieuro as of July 15”.
“This offer is a unique strategic opportunity to create a European leader in specialized retail, which would benefit to all Unieuro stakeholders,” they added.
Fnac Darty said in July that the merged company would aim for over 10 billion euros ($11.13 billion) in annual sales, and have around 30,000 employees as well as more than 1,500 stores.
Ruby is an affiliate of Vesa Equity Investment, Fnac’s top shareholder, controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who is vying to expand his sprawling empire of investments ranging from media to retail and football.
($1 = 0.8981 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by Giulia Segreti and Lincoln Feast)
