The board of Swedish financial-services group Skandia has reportedly rejected as being too low an offer by South Africa’s Old Mutual to acquire the company, according to reports by Swedish newspapers on Monday.
Skandia is set to make an announcement on the issue on Monday, the newspapers said.
Although Old Mutual has yet to make a formal offer for the company, Skandia and Old Mutual have been in negotiations regarding a possible takeover since May.
Analysts have put a price tag of about £3,5-billion (R40,7-billion) on the troubled Swedish insurer, Scandinavia’s largest.
Old Mutual has cash resources of about £1-billion (R11,6-billion) it can use to help fund the purchase, with the remainder likely to come from the issuance of new Old Mutual shares.
Old Mutual’s shares were last quoted on the JSE Securities Exchange at R15,60, down 1,6% or 25 cents from Friday’s close, with the local equity market, like its overseas counterparts, generally under pressure from concerns over record international oil prices. — I-Net Bridge