Morrisons agrees to £6.3bn takeover bid from investment consortium

Supermarket chain Morrisons has agreed to a £6.3 billion takeover bid from a consortium of investment groups.

The offer was led by Softbank-owned Fortress, which has also invested in Majestic Wine in the UK.

At a glance: 5 key points

- Shareholders will receive 252p per share plus a 2p special dividend

- The all cash offer is subject to shareholder approval

- Fortress partnered with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Koch Real Estate Investments in the deal

- Fortress has invested in grocery retail in both North America and Europe, and has invested in Majestic Wine in the UK

- The supermarket group turned down a bid worth £5.5bn from Clayton Dublier & Rice in June

What’s been said

Andrew Higginson, chairman of Morrisons, said: “The Morrisons directors believe that the offer represents a fair and recommendable price for shareholders which recognises Morrisons’ future prospects.

“Morrisons is an outstanding business and our performance through the pandemic has further improved our standing and enabled us to enter the discussions with Fortress from a hard-won position of strength.

“We have looked very carefully at Fortress’ approach, their plans for the business and their overall suitability as an owner of a unique British food-maker and shopkeeper with over 110,000 colleagues and an important role in British food production and farming.

“It’s clear to us that Fortress has a full understanding and appreciation of the fundamental character of Morrisons.

“This, together with the very clear intentions they have set out today, has given the Morrisons directors confidence that Fortress will support and accelerate our plans to develop and strengthen Morrisons further.”

Joshua A Pack, managing partner of Fortress, said: “We believe in making long-term investments focused on providing strong management teams with the necessary flexibility and support to execute their strategy in a sustainable and value-enhancing manner.

“We fully recognise Morrisons’ rich history and the very important role Morrisons plays for colleagues, customers, members of the Morrisons pension schemes, local communities, partner suppliers and farmers.

“We are committed to being good stewards of Morrisons to best serve its stakeholder groups, and the wider British public, for the long term.”

Background

Morrisons has a workforce of around 110,000 people and is one of the biggest private sector employers in Britain, with a market share of just over 10%.

The new move follows the rejection of an earlier £5.5bn bid from one of the world's biggest buyout firms, Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), after Morrisons said it "significantly undervalued" the business.