A potential acquirer of Comvita has ended its interest in doing a deal, the New Zealand honey maker has confirmed.
In a statement to the local stock exchange NZX, on which it is listed, it said “the board of Comvita advises that the party has now advised that it will not proceed with the offer”.
It came to light in February that Comvita had received a takeover offer which it described as a “highly conditional unsolicited, indicative, non-binding proposal”.
It said the would-be buyer was a “credible offshore party” which had indicated it wanted to acquire all of Comvita’s shares. The offer, which came a day after the Manuka honey specialist booked a first-half loss, represented “a significant premium to the current share price”, Comvita said.
It said it had concluded an initial exchange of information with the offshore party.
But in its statement to the NZX today (30 May), Comvita said the anonymous party is not proceeding with the offer.
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Chairman, Brett Hewlett, said: “The board considered the proposal worthy of careful consideration due to the significant premium to its share price and the credibility of the party. We proceeded with an extensive evaluation, working with our professional advisors, Goldman Sachs NZ, Simpson Grierson and Chapman Tripp.”
Hewlett did not say whether Comvita would consider alternative offers.
He said: “We remain committed to our long-term strategic plan, whilst being responsive to near-term market conditions. We are focused on leveraging the underlying value of Comvita’s assets, its high-quality products and services and we remain confident that Comvita is well placed for success in the medium to long term.”
Earlier this month, Comvita stated that its longer-term strategic target to reach NZ$50m ($30.5m) in EBITDA in the 2025 financial year is unlikely to be met.
Consequently, it launched a programme to realise savings of NZ$10m ($6.1m) in 2025 through operating expenses and the cost of goods sold.
The company also cut its outlook for the year to 30 June. It said second-half revenue in fiscal 2024 is likely to be down around 9.7% from a year earlier at NZ$110m.
Revenue and profit expectations had also been lowered in February due to “subdued consumption in China and North America”.
