Australia’s United Malt agrees $1 billion takeover offer from France’s InVivo By Reuters

(Reuters) -Australian malt producer United Malt Group Ltd said on Monday it had agreed to a A$1.5 billion ($999 million) takeover offer from Malteries Soufflet, a branch of French agribusiness InVivo.

The takeover would make InVivo the world’s top malt producer and double the size of its malt business three years earlier than planned, InVivo Chief Executive Thierry Blandinieres told Reuters when the offer was first announced in March.

The A$5 per share offer represents a 45.3% premium to United Malt’s closing price of A$3.44 on March 24, before the offer was first disclosed.

Australia has seen increased dealmaking this year, largely in contrast to the broader Asian region where the pressure of high interest rates has led to subdued mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity.

United Malt is the world’s fourth-largest commercial maltster, producing bulk malt for brewers, craft brewers, distillers and food companies. The company has processing plants in Australia, Canada, the United States and Britain.

Malteries Soufflet – one of the world’s biggest malt producers, operates 28 malt houses across Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

The deal requires approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) as well as United Malt’s shareholders to vote in support the transaction, among other regulatory requirements.

United Malt Chairman Graham Bradley said in a statement that the company’s board believed the offer appropriately reflected the value of its asset portfolio and the anticipated improvement in its near-term earnings outlook.

United Malt’s board has unanimously recommended that its shareholders vote in favor of the proposal.

InVivo did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

($1 = 1.5011 Australian dollars)