Takeover battle for Intersport hots up
Stancroft Trust Limited appears to be gaining the upper hand in the takeover battle for the Swiss sports chain, Intersport.
The London-based company has announced that it now holds 48 per cent of Intersport's shares.
The statement comes a day after Credit Suisse First Boston said Stancroft planned to launch an offer to buy all publicly held shares in Intersport at a price of SFr109 per share. The offer is to be launched on August 11.
Shares in the company closed at SFr107 on Wednesday, down from the year's high of SFr113 reached two weeks ago. Intersport's share price hit a low of SFr68 in March.
Stancroft said it plans to maintain Intersport's Swiss listing and said it would aim for an unchanged dividend of SFr3 per share for the business year 1999/2000.
Stancroft's announcement comes in response to a bid started in June by Intersport Germany. It offered SFr105 a share for its sister organisation. That offer expires on August 16.
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