Avon bidder in sale of £1.3bn Reckitt shares
JAB Holdings, the company that manages the interests of the Reimann family of Germany, said yesterday that it was selling a 4.9 per cent shareholding in the household goods company Reckitt Benckiser to raise more than £1bn.
The proceeds are widely expected to be used by the family, which owns the fragrance group Coty, to help fund its attempted takeover of its troubled rival Avon.
JAB has undertaken to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is acting as sole bookrunner on the share sale, not to make any further disposals from its remaining 10.4 per cent holding for a year.
Shares in Avon rose seven per cent on news of the share sale as some investors hoped for an increased offer. Sources close to the Reckitt share placing said they expected the shares to be sold to institutional shareholders at a four to eight per cent discount to the market price.
The BoAML team comprised of Federico Aliboni, Rupert Hume-Kendall and Oliver Holbourn.