ROBERT Wiseman Dairies has revealed it is in talks which could lead to it being bought by German giant Müller, propelling the East Kilbride-based company's shares higher to give it a stock market worth of about £232 million.
The 17.93% stake of executive chairman Robert Wiseman was valued at £41.6m last night, with the company's shares having ended 34%, or 84p, higher on the day at 328p. The holdings of his brothers, Alan and Gavin, were last night worth £29.5m and £6.56m respectively
Alan Wiseman retired in July 2010 as chairman of the company, which was founded by father Robert Sr in 1947 in the days in which milk was delivered by horse-and-cart and sold in cans.
Robert Wiseman Dairies made a statement to the stock market revealing the bid talks with Müller UK, a subsidiary of privately-owned Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller of Germany which is best known for its "corner" and "little star" yoghurts and rice pots, after a jump in the Scottish company's share price yesterday.
Shares in Robert Wiseman Dairies, which is battling supermarket milk price wars and surging raw material costs, had closed on Thursday night at 244p. They had, by 1pm yesterday, climbed to about 273p.
At 1.01pm, the regulatory statement revealing the bid talks hit traders' screens.
Robert Wiseman, which supplies about one-third of the UK's fresh milk with its annual production believed to be around two billion litres, told the stock market: "The board of Robert Wiseman Dairies Plc notes the recent rise in the company's share price. The board confirms that discussions regarding a possible cash offer are taking place with Müller Dairy (UK) Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller. There can be no certainty that any offer will be made for the company."
The company added that, under the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, Müller must "either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Robert Wiseman Dairies or confirm that it will not do so" by February 10.
It noted that this deadline would not be extended, other than with the consent of the Takeover Panel.
A spokesman for Robert Wiseman Dairies declined any further comment.
Robert Wiseman Dairies would be the latest in a long line of significant Scottish stock market-listed companies to lose its independence if Müller concludes a takeover.
In 2011, Forth Ports, and healthcare groups ProStrakan and Axis-Shield, all of them sizeable publicly-quoted Scottish com-panies, were taken over.
Robert Wiseman Dairies, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994, employs about 5000 people. More than 1000 of its employees are based north of the Border, including nearly 200 at the East Kilbride head office.
The company has in recent times been hit by fierce competition in the retail sector, including the supermarket milk price war, and by rising costs of milk, oil and plastics. Its shares were trading above 500p as recently as late summer 2010, ahead of a profits warning in September 2010 which sent them plunging.
The company has expanded rapidly over recent years, pushing ever further south. It has dairies at Bridgwater in Somerset, in Manchester, and at Droitwich near Birmingham, as well as at Aberdeen, Bellshill, and East Kilbride.
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