Scarlett presses on Allders offer

Published on Friday 31 January 2003 00:00

THE ante was upped in the takeover battle for the Allders department store group yesterday when the only bidder with an offer on the table warned it might let it lapse if more acceptances were not received.

As the deadline for its already-extended offer passed, Scarlett, owned by the Minerva property group in tandem with broker Lehman Brothers and retailers Terry Green and Phil Cox, said it had 37.2 per cent of Allders’ shares. It is understood Minerva is frustrated because it already has 26.2 per cent of the department store group, and so its 132 million takeover bid has only been accepted by shareholders speaking for another 10.7 per cent of the company.

In a statement yesterday, Minerva’s chief executive, Andrew Rosenfeld, warned that if sufficient acceptances for its offer to succeed were not received by the next deadline - 3pm next Wednesday - there was no certainty it would be extended.

Rosenfeld said: "We therefore urge Allders’ shareholders who have not already accepted the offer to do so without delay. There is no other offer."

City analysts said the move by Scarlett was a mild piece of brinkmanship on the part of the would-be buyers, whose 160p per share offer has been recommended by the Allders board.

Yesterday, Allders’ shares closed down 2.5p at 152p. It is thought many shareholders have been reserving their position on the offer in the hope it might be increased or be trumped by a possible rival bid from Scottish entrepreneur Tom Hunter.

Hunter has built up a 10.8 per cent stake in Allders, while also amassing a 6.95 per cent stake in rival department store chain, House of Fraser.

Many believe he wants Allders as well in order to then extract costsavings from a later merger of the two chains.

But the situation was complicated last Friday when Hunter let his indicative bid of 85p per share lapse after failing to get a recommendation for the offer from HoF’s management.

Under the City Takeover Code, he is now not allowed to make an offer for HoF for six months.