Third of investors agree to Boparan bid

FOOD tycoon Ranjit Singh Boparan last night revealed more than a third of Northern Foods’ shareholders have accepted his 73p per share bid, which values the ready meals maker at £342m.

The poultry entrepreneur said holders of 34.4 per cent of Northern’s shares, some 161 million shares, have backed his offer.

He wants to merge the Leeds-based maker of Goodfella’s pizza and Fox’s biscuits with his 2 Sisters Food Group to form a £2bn supplier to the UK’s major supermarkets. He needs the majority of shareholders to back his offer.

Shares in Leeds-based Northern closed at 73.5p yesterday, and have fallen from 75.75p last month, suggesting the market doubts the likelihood of a counterbid from Ireland’s Greencore.

Mr Boparan also said he is extending his offer for Northern until 1pm on March 16.

With Greencore yet to declare its intentions, the level of acceptances was greater than most analysts expected. Industry sources said it could be a “game-changer”.

In December, Mr Boparan gatecrashed Northern’s agreed all-share merger with rival Greencore, which had intended to create a food giant called Essenta.

He has agreed strict conditions with its pension trustees, and must seek their approval for any disposal of Northern’s assets worth more than £20m. He also agreed not to pay himself a dividend from Northern for three years.

He will also inject £15m a year into Northern’s pension scheme for the next 10 years.