A consortium led by Sonae, which owns Portugal's largest food retailer, has launched a tender offer on all the shares in Finnish pet care retailer Musti, in a deal valuing it at €868 million ($952 million).
Sonae offered €26 per share in cash, which represents a premium of 27% on Musti's closing price on 29 November and 40% on the volume-weighted average trading price in the last six months, it said in a statement.
Sonae said the acquisition is part of its 'strategy to grow and internationalise its retail portfolio' by adding exposure to a rapidly growing and resilient retail segment, lifted by owners' eagerness to spend more on 'parenting' their pets.
About Musti
Musti is the leading pet care retailer in the Nordic countries, Sonae said. It runs a network that includes 340 stores and an e-commerce business.
Its core Nordic markets – Finland, Sweden and Norway – 'have a solid macroeconomic context characterised by households' high disposable income when compared to European average, and a positive growth outlook in the pet retail segment', the company noted.
Sonae said that it had bought a tranche of Musti shares in recent months and already held a minority stake before the offer, though it did not disclose its size.
Sonae shares were down 0.5% in morning trading on the Euronext Lisbon market, while Musti shares were up almost 29% at €26.36 on Nasdaq Helsinki bourse, slightly exceeding the price offered.
Sonae leads the consortium of investors that also includes Musti's chairman Jeffrey David, its chief executive David Rönnberg and board member Johan Dettel. The Portuguese company did not disclose the weight of Musti's executives in the consortium.
In July, the retail group reported a 12% year-on-year increase in consolidated turnover to over €3.8 billion in the first half of its financial year.
