Alliance Boots rejects initial £9.7bn takeover approach
Alliance Boots has rejected a £9.7bn takeover approach from US-based KKR private equity group.
Following a board meeting on 12 March, Alliance Boots said of the approach: “The
board does not believe it reflects the fundamental value of the company
or the attractive prospects, opportunities and synergies available to
Alliance Boots following the very recent completion of its merger.”
The approach, which does not constitute a formal take-over bid, is backed
by the deputy chairman of Alliance Boots, Stefano Pessina, who already
owns 15 per cent of the company. Neither Mr Pessina nor his partner Ornella
Barra, who is also an Alliance Boots director, attended the board meeting.
A statement issued late last week by the equity group said: “KKR’s
and Stefano Pessina’s objective is to work closely with the existing
executive management team to achieve the long-term vision of building
a global leader in the health care services and beauty industries.”
KKR is the world’s biggest private equity group. Alliance Boots
was formed by merging Boots Group and Alliance UniChem in August 2006.
Stefano Pessina is an Italian who turned a weak family pharmaceutical
wholesale business into the successful European wholesaler Alliance Santé.
He arranged a reverse take-over of Alliance Santé by UK wholesaler
and pharmacy operator UniChem in 1997.
The bid has raised questions over the future of Alliance Boots’s
property portfolio, with GMB union official Paul Mahoney predicting an
asset stripping exercise.
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