Old Mutual will not raise its offer price for Swedish insurer Skandia, the company confirmed to I-Net Bridge on Thursday.
Miranda Bellord, head of media relations at Old Mutual in London, was responding to earlier media reports that the company was considering lifting its R38-billion offer for Skandia in order to persuade some reluctant Skandia shareholders to accept its bid.
“We have always said we are comfortable with our offer, and remain so,” she commented. “We feel there is no reason to raise the price.”
She did confirm a report that Skandia shareholders supporting the Old Mutual bid had increased their interest in Skandia in recent weeks, thus raising the chances of a larger acceptance of the offer as a percentage of the total Skandia share base.
A report in the Thursday edition of Swedish business daily Dagens Industri referred to shareholder data showing that close to 70% of Skandia shareholders support the bid from Old Mutual. It said that Skandia’s management, which has rejected the offer as being too low, had given up their fight in the face of growing support for Old Mutual.
It also claimed that Old Mutual may be prepared to increase its bid to persuade some hold-outs to vote in favour of the bid, citing unnamed sources. – I-Net Bridge