Tate & Lyle said to have attracted takeover interest from Roquette Freres; speculation downplayed - reported rumour
03 MAY 2019
Tate & Lyle [LON:TATE], a UK-based food ingredients supplier, is said to have attracted takeover interest from privately-owned French rival Roquette Frères, the Financial Times reported. The newspaper’s market report section mentioned gossip that Roquette Frères was preparing an offer for Tate & Lyle at a premium of close to 15% on the UK-based company’s closing share price of 773.2p on Thursday, 2 May, but did not attribute the information to a source.
Tate & Lyle and Roquette Frères both declined to comment on the speculation, the item said.
The Daily Mail's market report section also mentioned speculation that Roquette Frères has offered 900p per share for Tate & Lyle. However, the newspaper went on to cite sources close to Tate & Lyle who quickly dismissed the speculation as "wild."
Tate & Lyle’s share price climbed above 800p on Thursday, before falling back to close unchanged at 773.2p. The company’s market capitalisation stood at GBP 3.65bn (EUR 4.25bn).
The Financial Times report appeared on page 26 of the print edition of the newspaper on Friday, 3 May.
Link to original source (Daily Mail)