Thorntons ends takeover talks
Potential bids undervalued business
February 5 2004
Chocolate retailer Thorntons has ended takeover talks which could have take the business private.
A number of potential bidders, including a management buyout team led by chief executive Peter Burdon and backed by a private equity firm, opened talks with the company in the wake of poor sales during last year’s hot summer.
Thorntons independent directors, including 5.5 per cent shareholder grandson of the company founder John Thornton, have confirmed that “all such discussions have now been terminated.
A statement said: “In the view of the independent directors and their advisers none of the indicative proposals received from potentially interested parties represented fair value for shareholders.
Thornton later told journalists: “It never really reached the stage of final offers, it was still at the indicative offer stage.
“During this time we had a number of shareholders who came to us and expressed clearly their views. In the end the people we were talking to weren’t able to match expectations.
“The management are highly committed to the business. They didn’t go out to seek this – it came to them. Now we just want to get on with being a plc.”
Thorntons has 388 of it own stores as well as franchises. The company produces Thorntons-branded products for retailers including Tesco, and also makes own-brand products for Marks & Spencer and Boots.
