So Ranjit Boparan has until 21 January to get a bid together for Northern Foods.
It seems a long shot, with some observers questioning whether the 2 Sisters owner can raise the kind of cash that would tempt Northern’s shareholders to turn their backs on the Essenta deal’s promised upside.
Similarly, Clive Black, the Shore Capital analyst and regular contributor to The Grocer, has been pouring cold water over the latest bout of takeover talk surrounding Ocado.
The online retailer hit something of a landmark yesterday, with its shares topping the IPO price for the first time since trading began (though still below the ambitious price initially targeted).
Black insists he can’t see a bidder for Ocado coming from the UK food trade, or further afield for that matter.
Some have attributed the stock’s rise to financial manoeuvring by various hedge funds that took out ‘short’ positions on Ocado (betting the stock would continue to lose value) and may now have thrown in the towel and sold up (effectively conceding that the retailer is on an upward track).
We’ll get a better sense of what’s going occurring next week, when Ocado’s latest trading update kicks off the festive reporting season. Whatever the performance, bid talk is likely to persist.
Elsewhere, Andy Bond’s exit from Asda – confirmed yesterday – has been puzzlingly reported in some of today’s papers as a “surprise move”.
Er, really? The writing was on the wall the moment he took the chairman role. See how quickly Asda looks to fill the newfound vacancy. Not very, we’re guessing.
By the by, it could just be too many late nights spent following the Ashes, but this column has started to see a definite resemblance between Bond and beleaguered England batsman Paul Collingwood. (They’re ginger ringers, if you like.)
If this proves to be Colly’s valedictory Test for his country, his exit won’t be any more surprising than Bond’s. But the contribution each made to their respective teams should be remembered long after they’re gone.
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