Huon takeover fight continues

Tasmanian business Huon Aquaculture today confirmed it had received a takeover proposal from Andrew Forrest’s Tattarang, lower than that of Brazilian meat processing giant JBS.

Huon said Tattarang had expressed interest in the salmon and trout farmer, and submitted a non-binding and conditional indicative offer for the company.

Tattarang was invited to submit a final and binding offer but declined to do so, Huon said.

Tattarang, through its agrifood arm Harvest Road, has an 18.5 per cent stake in Huon after having purchased roughly 12.3 million shares in the company since late June, worth a combined $46.2 million. 

That includes purchases made after JBS proposed to acquire all of Huon’s issued capital for $3.85 per share.

Huon today told shareholders that the bid from JBS was “materially higher” than Tattarang’s indicative offer.

This came after Mr Forrest launched a public campaign against JBS, criticising its animal welfare standards.

The board of Huon has unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour of the JBS deal, which is also pending approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

The deal requires the acceptance of at least 50.1 per cent of Huon’s shareholders.

Canadian business Cooke Aquaculture is also understood to have an interest in making a potential bid for Huon.

Its shares closed up 0.5 per cent to trade at $3.84, implying a market capitalisation of about $420 million.