Lactalis announced a voluntary public offer on the remaining 12.26% of Parmalat (227m shares) at EUR2.8 per share with the purpose of delisting the company. Some uncertainty in the assessment of the fair value could come from the two pending claims with Citibank. We increase our TP from EUR2.35 to EUR2.8 and confirm our Hold rating
Lactalis voluntary tender offer on the remaining shares
On Monday, Sofil SAS, Lactalis’s vehicle controlling 87.7% of Parmalat, announced a voluntary public offer on the remaining 12.26% of Parmalat (227m shares) at EUR2.8 per share with the purpose of delisting the company. The EUR2.8 offered to minorities is above our previous TP of EUR2.35 and represents a premium of 11% to the 1M average, 15% to the 3M average and 18% to the 1Y average and implies an EV/EBITDA 2016- 17E of 11x and 9x, compared to a historical average (2005-15) of 8.5x.
Hopes for a relaunch
We do not rule out a relaunch of the bid from Lactalis, as a significant portion of minority shareholders (Amber, Gamco, Fidelity, etc. or c. 5% of the total shares) may not accept the offer, while under Italian law, Lactalis must own at least 95% of Parmalat's shares to squeeze out minorities or between 90-95% for the residual public offer, whose price, however, is determined by Consob, based on the previous offer and market price.