Booker shareholders have been told by a leading advisory firm to vote against the £3.7 billion takeover bid from UK retail giant Tesco.
Reuters reports that, in a note dated 14 February, Institutional Shareholder Services said that the planned merger would have 'limited potential benefit' for Booker investors, and was skewed towards Tesco shareholders.
This comes a week after US hedge fund Sandell Asset Management, which holds a 1.75% stake in wholesale company Booker, also expressed concerns with the current bid being offered by Tesco.
However, Clive Black, head of research at Shore Capital, told Talking Retail that it is "unlikely" the merger will be derailed by these investor concerns.
Takeover Talk
The major retail merger was first announced in January 2017, with the aim of creating “the UK's leading food business”, but only received final approval from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority in December.
Last week, Booker CEO Charles Wilson was appointed chief executive of Tesco's UK and Ireland business, and is set to commence the role once the wholesaler's merger with Tesco is complete.
In a statement released by Tesco, the supermarket giant added that it expects the deal to be completed on 5 March.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
