Olam Outbids Dreyfus in the Battle for Namoi Cotton

Olam Agri Holdings Ltd. has yet again trumped Louis Dreyfus Co.’s bid for Namoi Cotton Ltd., as the two major agricultural traders vie for the Australian cotton producer. 

The Singaporean-based company will increase its bid for Namoi to A$0.70 a share, three cents higher than LDC’s most recent bid on Tuesday, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Its latest offer values the company at around A$144 million . The traders have progressively raised their offers in recent weeks, and shares in Namoi — the largest Australian-owned cotton processor — have climbed to the highest since 1999.

The companies are vying to gain a bigger foothold in Australia’s cotton industry, which is the world’s sixth biggest. Olam Agri acquired Queensland Cotton in 2007 and owns a number of ginning facilities in New South Wales and Queensland. LDC bought Dunavant’s Australian cotton business in 2010 and owns three processing plants in the country.

Olam Agri offered A$0.66 cents a share for Namoi late last week, contingent on getting backing from more than half the company’s shareholders. At the time, it said it would pay A$0.70 if it successfully secured at least 90% support. However, that was rebuffed when Rotterdam-based LDC, which currently holds around 17% of Namoi’s shares, said a day later that it wouldn’t accept Olam Agri’s bid. 

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