Origin and Aryzta silent on takeover

AGRI-FOOD company Origin Enterprises and its majority shareholder, the Irish-Swiss bakery group Aryzta, have both refused to comment at length on reports that Origin has received a £400 million (€464m) takeover offer from an unknown private equity house.

Shares in Origin were trading at €3.30 in Dublin yesterday; up by 6.45% on Friday’s closing price. A spokesperson for Origin — which provides a number of agricultural services as well as owning a number of leading consumer brands (such as Erin, Squeez, Roma and Odlums) through its Valeo Foods joint venture — said that the company does not comment on “rumour and speculation”.

First reports of the alleged bid came via ‘merger-market’, the online mergers and acquisitions& information source, late last week. Subsequent online reports have suggested that Origin — which has been active in the acquisition market, itself, this year — has been studying and evaluating the offer.