ONE of Morrisons top shareholder, J O Hambro said that US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) must raise the bid amount for takeover to succeed.
The UK-based asset management company said that any potential bidder for the supermarket group should raise its offer to £6.5 billion.
Last week, Morrisons declined a £5.5bn takeover proposal from the CD&R, saying the offer “significantly undervalues” the firm.
J O Hambro, which owns 3 per cent of Morrisons, said this was a “high-octane” approach that would “create a more volatile asset”.
J O Hambro backed the Morrisons decision to decline the £5.5 bn takeover offer and said that CD&R should pay a “fair price” to merge the supermarket’s petrol station arm with its Motor Fuels Group – a combined company that would create a forecourt giant with around 1200 sites across the UK.
“The fuel purchasing and food retailing synergies here are clear to see,” the shareholder said. “But CD&R should pay a fair price in order to access those synergies.”
Morrisons is Britain’s fourth largest grocer by sales after Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda.
Meanwhile, British takeover rules give CD&R until July 17 to come back with a higher offer.
Amazon, and private equity firms Apollo, Lone Star and KKR, are all understood to be interested in a potential takeover of the supermarket.
Ghost Directors charge illegal workers to keep shops registered in their name.
Shops were selling below the average UK price.iStock 
Asylum workers are working illegally for poverty wages - representative image.iStock 
