Financial investors engage in a bidding war for Zooplus.
(Photo: dpa)
Munich In the multi-billion dollar bidding war for the Munich-based online pet supplies retailer Zooplus, the financial investor EQT Private Equity made a public takeover offer. As the Munich-based company confirmed early Saturday morning, the Swedish investor is offering 470 euros per share in cash, which corresponds to around 3.6 billion euros.
That is 69 percent more than the last price before the first takeover bid by rival Hellman & Friedman (H&F) in mid-August. H&F recently offered 460 euros per share, which corresponds to a takeover offer of 3.3 billion euros.
The board of directors and the supervisory board of the German online pet supplies retailer welcomed the new offer from EQT. The Swedish financial investor has also committed to investing in the growth of Zooplus, supporting its pan-European market presence as well as its management and employees, the online pet supplies retailer said in a statement. EQT’s takeover offer now has to be approved by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).