Nutreco takeover by SHV one step closer

SHV has increased its stake in the animal feed giant Nutreco to 15.24%, as stated by SHV in an announcement this week. More than 890,000 shares were purchased for an average price of €39.90. SHV now has more than 10 million Nutreco shares.

Previously, shareholders of Nutreco were not happy about the SHV bid. Several major shareholders, such as NN Group, said the offer per share was too low. In addition, the Dutch Association of Stockholders (VEB) wonders whether Nutreco would be better off as part of SHV or to stay as a listed company. VEB also finds it odd that Nutreco, according to the take-over deal, has to pay €25 million to SHV as a ‘fee’ if it agrees with an offer from a third party.

Last week, it was announced that investment company SHV Holdings is willing to pay €2.7 billion for Dutch feed company Nutreco (€40 per share). The offer was and still is fully supported by the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board of Nutreco.

In the last few years, Nutreco went through a series of transformations. The company sold – pressured by shareholders – cyclic driven fish, meat and genetics activities. More recently, Nutreco tried to sell the feed and meat activities in Spain and Portugal, without success.