Mr Kipling Owner Spurns Sweetened US Offer

Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods (LSE: PFD.L - news) has spurned a sweetened offer from Schwartz spice maker McCormick & Co.

Premier (NasdaqGS: PINC - news) said the third approach from the US firm "continues to undervalue" the business and its prospects - though indicated that it was "prepared for meetings to take place" to see whether it is prepared to improve the offer further.

The latest proposal of 65p per share is an increase on previously rejected offers of 52p and 60p for Premier – whose brands also include Bisto, Homepride, Oxo and Sharwood's.

In another twist to the takeover saga, Premier revealed last week that Japanese noodle giant Nissin Foods had taken a 17% stake in the business at 63p per share, as part of an international cooperation deal.

McCormick's latest offer values Premier's shares at £537m.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) said that including debt and future pension liabilities the proposal represented an enterprise value of £1.5bn. Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) rose 7%.

The approach values the stock at about double its closing price on 23 March when the initial proposals were first made public.

McCormick said its latest sweetened proposal "should be well received by Premier Foods' shareholders, employees, pensioners, creditors, and other stakeholders".

Analysts at Shore Capital said it was a "good compromise price".