Berry Global gets deadline to hijack Apollo’s RPC Group takeover

Berry Global, the US firm trying to hijack an agreed £3.3bn takeover of plastic packaging giant RPC Group, has been given a 13 March deadline to announce a concrete intention to make a counter offer.

RPC accepted an offer in January by private equity firm Apollo Global Management after months of negotiations.

But Berry, another a plastic packaging supplier, said on 31 January it had approached RPC for the due diligence information needed to make an offer. It stressed the announcement “does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer”.

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The Takeover Panel has this morning ruled Berry must announce a concrete intention to make a bid by 13 March – if another party announces it is considering making a bid, Berry’s deadline will no longer apply.

Before Berry stepped in, it looked as if a £3.3bn offer from Apollo was all but sealed, announced after months of wrangling and hours before the regulatory deadline. But it caused disquiet among RPC shareholders, some of whom felt they were getting a raw deal.

Under Apollo’s offer each RPC shareholder would get 782p cash for every share they own, 15.6 per cent up on the 683.6p closing price on 7 September, the last day before talks were confirmed.

The deal rankled Aviva Investors and Royal London Asset Management, both top 15 shareholders, who said the payout was not high enough given RPC’s future growth prospects.

When Berry emerged as a possible bidder, Craig Yeaman, fund manager at Royal London Asset Management, said: “Apollo were always going to run this risk having pitched the bid at this level which has clearly given others encouragement.

“Berry Global, being a competitor to RPC, would have plenty of synergies to go after and the first casualties could include senior management who were so willing to accept Apollo’s offer.”

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RPC shares rose 3.7 per cent when Berry’s statement of intent came in to 794p – where they remain – 12p higher than Apollo’s current bid.

The company is one of Europe’s biggest plastic packaging manufacturers, making products including bottle tops and asthma inhalers.