Grafton quiet over Heiton approach

Builders’ merchants and DIY groups Grafton and Heiton were quiet yesterday in advance of today’s deadline for Grafton to make a formal offer for its smaller rival.

Neither company would confirm that takeover talks, which broke down in June after a failure to agree on a price, had restarted.

The stock exchange imposed today’s deadline to force Grafton either to improve on its €6.35 per share approach, which valued Heiton at €325m, or walk away from a deal for 12 months. The deadline may, however, be extended at the discretion of the stock exchange’s takeover panel.