According to information published by Diario Financiero, the Canadian pension fund PSP Investments has initiated a Public Offer to Acquire Shares (OPA) with which it will seek to keep up to 49.9% of Hortifrut. Currently, the fund has 4.88% of Hortifrut, and the takeover bid is subject to the Canadian fund obtaining at least 36% of the company's share.
The other 50.1% of the firm will remain in the hands of the controlling group, made up of the Moller and Quevedo families and the VitalBerry Group (linked to the Elberg and Del Rio families).
The transaction is being led by BTG Pactual and Banchile. “The price offered per share is US$1.63, which is almost twice the value each share had at the end of the day before the announcement of the takeover bid was made last December,” according to BTG Pactual. The takeover bid will close on May 31.
“We are proud to support PSP in this important transaction that demonstrates, once again, the attractiveness of Chilean companies to foreign investors,” stated Ignacio Guarda, BTG Pactual's Investment Banking Associate Partner.
"Hortifrut has achieved a leading position globally in the export of berries thanks to the use of the capital market as an important source of financing, which has attracted the attention of PSP, a prominent foreign investor. We expect this operation to be just one of many this year,” he added.
The market welcomed the operation and, even after knowing the intentions of PSP, the company's stock increased by more than 80%.
Source: simfruit.cl