Tycoon 'set to make bid for Northern'

A LEADING analyst said he believes food tycoon Ranjit Singh Boparan is likely to bid for Northern Foods ahead of a Friday deadline.

Charlie Mills at Credit Suisse said in a note yesterday "a bid is more likely than not", adding an offer for the Leeds-based pizza maker will likely be pitched at 60p-65p.

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Northern is trying to merge with its Irish rival Greencore to create Essenta, a 1.7bn turnover food manufacturer. Mr Boparan, who owns poultry supplier 2 Sisters, has until the end of the week to bid for the group or walk away.

"We would not expect that Rothschilds (20 years a Northern adviser) would team up with him unless his intentions were very serious," added Mr Mills.

However, Mr Mills' suggested the price is considerably lower than the 75p-80p range seen by Clive Black, analyst at Shore Capital. Shares in Northern yesterday closed up 2.5 per cent at 61.25p.

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Leading investors are understood to have urged Northern not to sell out on the cheap. One major shareholder told the Yorkshire Post a cash bid will not automatically result in success, and pension trustees are key as Northern has a 107.8m pension deficit.

"The market is probably right to suggest that there will be an offer in due course," said the investor.

"(But) the pension trustees have a very strong position. There are plenty of transactions that have not seen the light of day because of that – quite rightly so because of the interest the pension fund has in the company's future."

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