International services, trading and distribution company Bidvest is has made an offer to purchase 50m shares for a 15 per cent holding in leading South African fresh produce exporter Capespan, according to reports.
News outlets such as Bloomberg and Reuters have quoted Bidvest finance director David Cleasby as saying his company has offered R2.40 (€0.23) apiece for the shares, ahead of a similar bid made by Zeder Investments in June.
Zeder, which is already Capespan's biggest shareholder with 27.7 per cent of the group's shares, launched a bid for control of the company with an offer totalling R486m (€49.8m) or R2.25 (€0.23) per share.
While Bidvest's offer tops this by valuing Capespan at R795m (€77m), the proposal – which was reportedly submitted via the logistics company's website – is said to be 'tentative', according to Bloomberg.
'Time will tell if we put in a formal offer,' Cleasby told the news service. 'We have to do our homework first and we're in the process of doing some work on Capespan.'
