Castorama rejects offer

Castorama Dubois Investissements has rejected the takeover proposal made by Kingfisher. According to a statement made by the company, Kingfisher’s plan is judged to be unsatisfactory. Kingfisher has not kept to the contractual arrangements, according to which it must first have the financial means at its disposal. This means risking a rejection of the scheme by the Kingfisher shareholders, which could then have a “disastrous” impact on the share price. The British company had announced that it would finance the deal by raising around two billion £ through a rights issue and the remainder through a new bank loan. What is more, Castorama announced it would take legal action. Months of talks had not led to any agreement about the partnership’s future strategic orientation. Castorama regrets the fact that the takeover programme for the moment includes only an interim management, and warns that relocating the head office to London would be a “strategic, cultural and economic mistake”.
Detailed information about the current link-up between Kingfisher and Castorama can be found in DIYglobal plus under the Trade Topics heading.