Business News
DuPont Extends Danisco Tender Offer Period to Accommodate Ongoing Regulatory Reviews
Thursday 31. March 2011 - Process on Track for Offer to Close in the Second Quarter
DuPont (NYSE: DD) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary DuPont Denmark Holding ApS is extending the tender offer period relating to its acquisition of Danisco A/S shares. The extension provides additional time to secure the necessary approvals from the competition authorities in the European Union (EU) and China. As required by Danish regulations, the new offer period is extended four weeks and will end on April 29, 2011, at 11 p.m. CEST (5 p.m. EDT), unless further extended as described in the offer document. All other terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged. The offer is proceeding toward an early second quarter closing.
“We believe Danisco shareholders are recognizing that our offer is full, fair and firm and, moreover, it is the best offer available and provides certainty to shareholders. We continue to make good progress on the necessary regulatory approvals and we look forward to completing the tender process promptly once regulatory approvals are received,” said DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman.
Competition approval has already been obtained in the United States and competition approvals in the EU and in China continue to make progress.
As previously stated in the offer document, the offer price represents a premium of 58.7 percent compared to the average price of Danisco’s shares in the 12 months prior to the announcement of the acquisition agreement, a premium of 32.5 percent compared to the average price during the last month prior to the announcement, and a premium of 25.5 percent compared to closing price on the last trading day prior to the Jan. 9 tender offer announcement.
DuPont estimates that, as of the close of business on March 29, Danisco shareholders had tendered approximately 6 percent of the outstanding shares to DuPont Denmark Holding ApS. The estimated acceptance level to date is consistent with similar past voluntary tender offers in Denmark at this stage of the offer.
A copy of the supplement to the offer document extending the offer period is attached and available at www.dupontanddanisco.com.
On Jan. 9, DuPont entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of Danisco for DKK 665 cash per share and the tender offer commenced on Jan. 21. On Jan. 21, Danisco announced that its board of directors unanimously recommended that Danisco shareholders accept the offer. On Jan. 28, DuPont announced the expiration of the U.S. anti-trust waiting period in connection with the tender offer. On Feb. 9, Danisco announced that all members of the executive board and the board of directors had tendered their shares. On Feb. 18, DuPont announced that the tender offer period would be extended to April 1 to provide additional time for regulatory approvals.
All terms and conditions of the offer are described in the offer document dated Jan. 21. The offer document is available free of charge on the Danisco website at www.danisco.com with a copy of the statement of the board of directors of Danisco A/S Concerning the Voluntary Recommended Public Offer. Danisco shareholders also can visit www.dupontanddanisco.com to access all of the important offer information provided by DuPont and Danisco.