Lion's Takeover Bid is Half-Baked: CCA

By Ian Neubauer

Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) chief executive Terry Davis has slammed Lion Nathan’s $8 billion takeover bid, describing it as half-baked, half-cocked and fatally flawed.

“It really is half-cocked,” The Australian Financial Review reported Davis saying. “I have never seen such a half-baked proposal.

“The fact is the major owner of Lion is Kirin, and Kirin is our competitor — I can’t put my shareholders at risk unless they get an enormous premium and are prepared to take that risk,” he said.

Davis’ comments stem from revelations that Kirin Holdings — Lion’s primary shareholder — is financing the bid and, that as 100 per cent owner of National Foods and Dairy Farmers, the Japanese conglomerate could siphon off CCA assets and intellectual property to its key businesses.

Adding to Davis’ ire is the fact that Lion reneged to offer him a role in the merged company, meaning the deal stands to put him and most senior CCA executives out of a job.

“By my calculations that means they’ll have to wipe out the total head office of Lion or CC Amatil plus significant front line troops,” he said.
 
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[Fri 21/11/2008 11:44:00]