Mondi seen sweetening £237m bid for Polish unit
SHARES in Polish paper maker Mondi Swiecie climbed above an offer price from its South African parent yesterday, as investors bet Mondi would have to sweeten its £237m buy-out bid.
The South African paper maker owns two-thirds of Mondi Swiecie, and offered 69 zlotys (£13.60) per share for the remaining 34 per cent of the Polish company.
The offer was in line with Mondi Swiecie’s closing price in Warsaw on Wednesday, but investors sent shares of the firm up another 5.8 per cent to 73 zlotys yesterday.
Pension fund Aviva PTE, which holds 7.3 per cent of Swiecie, said it was analysing the bid, while ING PTE, which has 10 per cent, declined to comment.
Mondi, which is also listed in London, said it had made the 1.2bn zloty all-cash offer for the remaining 17m shares to gain full control of the container board maker, in line with its strategy to streamline its structure.