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Morrisons Agrees To Fortress Investment Group’s Raised $9.3 Billion Bid

The new bid of 6.7 billion pounds comprises 270 pence per Morrisons share plus a 2 pence per share special dividend.

Video source: YouTube, Bloomberg Markets and Finance

British supermarket group Morrisons has agreed to a raised takeover bid worth 6.7 billion pounds ($9.3 billion) from a consortium led by Softbank-owned Fortress Investment Group, it said on Friday.

The new Fortress bid comprises 270 pence per Morrisons share plus a 2 pence a share special dividend.

Morrisons said its board has re-confirmed its unanimous recommendation of the bid.

The board had previously agreed to a Fortress bid worth 254 pence a share or a total of 6.3 billion pounds on July 3.

Major Morrisons investors Silchester, M&G and JO Hambro, however, all indicated that bid was too low.

U.S. private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) CD&R had a 230 pence a share proposal worth 5.52 billion pounds rejected by Morrisons on June 17.

Britain's Takeover Panel, which regulates corporate takeovers, had set an August 9 deadline for CD&R to come back.

($1 = 0.7189 pounds)

Reporting by James Davey; editing by Costas Pitas and Paul Sandle.

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Source: Reuters, Bloomberg Markets and Finance

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