- Beauty and glamour conglomerate McPherson’s (MCP) has rejected a buyout bid it’s described as “utterly opportunistic”
- Rich-lister Raphael Geminder, a stakeholder in the brand, offered $172 million for McPherson’s through the Gallin group
- McPherson’s told its shareholders on Thursday to take no action on the offer
- McPherson’s share price has declined since last year in a dampened COVID-19 market and is now under the leadership of a new Chief Executive
- The beauty brand will release a market update in May, but Gallin and the hopeful buyers are pressuring McPherson’s for a new trading update
- Shares in MCP boosted 1.41 per cent on Thursday to close at $1.44 apiece on the ASX
Beauty and health brand McPherson’s (MCP) has rejected a $172 million takeover offer, telling its shareholders to “take no action”.
The buyout bid, proposed by rich-lister Raphael Geminder and Gallin Group, was described as “totally inadequate” and “utterly opportunistic” by McPherson’s.
Geminder was the cofounder of Visy Recycling and is now an acting chair of the Pact Group.
“The MCP Directors unanimously recommend that you reject Gallin’s offer by taking no action,” read a Thursday McPherson’s media release.
Geminder’s unsolicited offer priced MCP shares at $1.34 each with a 9.8 per cent premium on the day it was offered.
“The Board believes this offer profoundly undervalues MCP,” the company said in a target statement.
But Geminder’s side of the court also had their own words to say.
“The Target Statement is utterly underwhelming and uninformative,” Gallin Managing Director, Nick Pekins, said.
“It contains no new information or tangible plans and reinforces that this is a company that has lost its way”.
Gallin’s offer was pushed to McPherson’s two weeks ago. The hopeful buyer already holds a 4.95 per cent stake in the beauty conglomerate.
Gallin is banking its ambitious offer on the recent woes McPherson’s has endured.
MCP shares have dropped 52 per cent on the ASX since October of last year. Company Chief Excecutive Laurie McAllister also recently resigned. Grant Peck is now in the big chair as of last week.
“[Gallin’s offer] has been opportunistically timed to exploit McPherson’s recent share price weakness following a period of challenging trading conditions,” Cubbin continued.
Cubbin is hopeful for a post-COVID world.
“[Our share price] has been impacted by the effect of COVID-19 on cross-border e-commerce into China and like all things with COVID-19, hopefully, will pass,” he said.
“Then the negative drag on our results and share price will be removed”.
McPherson’s is expected to give a company update sometime in May. Gallin’s offer expires in the same month and is pressuring the glamour brand to provide a trading update before then.
Particularly, McPherson’s recently bought vitamins brand Global Therapeutics for $27 million — and Gallin wants a performance update on the acquisition.
“We’re not one of the only ones to suggest it’s a little difficult to predict the future in that market,” McPherson Chief Grant Peck said in the company’s defence.
“I’m not sure if that’s necessarily appreciated by Gallin, I don’t know what sort of experience they have offshore.”
A recent trading update shows the company has improved sales by 5 per cent over three months since the end of February.
Shares in McPherson’s boosted 1.41 per cent on Thursday trade, closing at $1.44 each.