Supermarket chain Morrisons has accepted a cash offer of £6.3 billion from a US investment group, however, a rival bidder is considering making an offer.
The takeover bid is led by US-based Fortress Investment Group, owner of Majestic Wine, along with CPP Investments and KREI, which is part of Koch Industries.
Morrisons’ chairman Andrew Higginson said the offer, accepted in principle, represented a “fair and recommendable” price for shareholders that recognised the chain’s future prospects. He added that Fortress had a “full understanding and appreciation of the fundamental character of Morrisons” and that the directors had confidence Fortress would support and accelerate Morrisons’ development plans.
Joshua A Pack, managing partner of Fortress, stated: “We believe in making long-term investments focused on providing strong management teams with the necessary flexibility and support to execute their strategy in a sustainable and value enhancing manner.
“We fully recognise Morrisons’ rich history and the very important role Morrisons plays for colleagues, customers, members of the Morrisons Pension Schemes, local communities, partner suppliers and farmers. We are committed to being good stewards of Morrisons to best serve its stakeholder groups, and the wider British public, for the long term.”
Another private equity group, Apollo, has reportedly issued a statement saying it is in “the preliminary stages of evaluating a possible offer for Morrisons” but stressed there was no certainty that an offer would be made.
Last month Morrisons rejected an offer from private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, saying the £5.5 billion bid was too low.
