Lion Nathan Takeover Bid of Coopers

[Beerpig]

Thoughts please

Cheers

[undercover1]

Huh?

This is the closest thing I could find, from last week-

Lion Nathan Ltd says it has no knowledge of any rumoured takeover bid by Philippine food and beverage group San Miguel Corp.
Shares the brewer have soared more than eight per cent this week, with speculation that San Miguel would bid $8.50 per share for the company.
Lion Nathan shares closed at $8.38 on Wednesday.
However the company says it has no knowledge of any takeover by San Miguel.
"The company knows of no such offer," it said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange

Do tell, BP- what have you heard?

[Guest]

Lion Nathan has now launched a takeover bid for Coopers:

http://investor.ninemsn.com.au/investor ... r=20050901

[r.magnay]

Oh no, God please spare us from that!!! The only decent brewery we have, Australian owned and operated we can't afford to lose that!

[Wimmig]

Doesn't bother me in the least. Bit more cash in my back pocket.

I think it's for the best.

Long live the lion!

[NTRabbit]

Its the frontpage article for todays advertiser, HOSTILE RAID ON COOPERS Family rejects $50m offer

Its a bit of an odd situation - to gain control of Coopers, the Coopers family itself would need to sell a number of their shares.

The ACCC might also get involved, since a successful buyout would give them 70% of the market in SA. Not to mention the court cases that Lion Nathan has tried to pre-empt with this.

[Guest]

Doesn't bother me in the least. Bit more cash in my back pocket.

I think it's for the best.

Long live the lion!

why? are you a kiwi?

[NTRabbit]

My brother just heard on the radio on his way back from uni, Coopers just won an injunction against Lion Nathans takeover attempt in court.

Lion Nathan intends to appeal.

[undercover1]

And Coopers' response:

Coopers Brewery Limited
RE: LION NATHAN OFFER ANNOUNCEMENT
Coopers Brewery Limited (“Coopers”) has noted the announcement by Lion Nathan Limited of its intention to make an offer for all of the shares of Coopers for a price of $260 per share.
The Board of Coopers will meet in due course to consider the proposed offer terms and will provide further advice to shareholders at that time. In the meantime, shareholders are strongly advised to take no action in respect of the offer proposal until they receive a written response from the Coopers’ Board.
Coopers has appointed N M Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Limited and Piper Alderman as its advisers. Australian Made, Australian Owned
Coopers Ales, Stout & Lagers • Coopers Home Brew Products • Leabrook Farms Honey • Coopers Malt Extract

[Paleman]

Doesn't bother me in the least. Bit more cash in my back pocket.

I think it's for the best.

Long live the lion!

Obviously Wimmig, you dont understand the family institution that is Coopers Brewery, and what it means to South Aussie beer drinkers.

It would be a sad, sad day when an Icon like Coopers, that produce arguably the best ales and stouts in the world, was taken over by a Mega Swill Company, who just cant stand the competition....like a big bully brother.

Down with Lion Nathan !!!, and its so called beer. Long live Coopers.

[umop-3p|sdn]

Yes, the price of Coopers beers might drop for the consumer, but I'd happily pay an extra $5-$10 per case knowing that my money wasn't going to some mega-conglomorate!

I just wish there was something that we could do to stop the takeover

[Paleman]

And the simple fact that the beers would change. Whats money ? When your buying the best !!

[Paleman]

Heres an email i recieved today from Coopers.


Dear Loyal Coopers Customer

You have probably heard by now that Lion Nathan has announced a takeover bid for Coopers Brewery Ltd. Dr Tim Cooper, Managing Director and Head Brewer has asked me to convey to all Coopers Club members, home brewers and loyal beer drinkers that this is not a friendly takeover offer. The company has asked all shareholders to defer making a decision in regard to the offer at this time.

As we had hoped the Supreme Court found in favour of Coopers Brewery today deeming that there has been a change in control of Lion Nathan that will allow Coopers shareholder to vote and amend the constitution to remove Lion Nathan's existing pre-emptive rights. However, this decision may yet be appealed by Lion Nathan and this does not mean that their offer will automatically become invalid or withdrawn.

The Board of Coopers will meet shortly to consider Lion Nathan's offer, and will write to shareholders in due course. When this happens I will be in contact in writing with you to provide you with an update of what the Board has told shareholders.

Cheers,


Frank Akers
Customer Service &
Coopers Club Coordinator
Coopers Brewery
461 South Rd
Regency Park
SA 5010

[Dogger Dan]

Bit of a drag eh

What the hell will I use for a "quick and dirty" now. Coopers was the only good stuff I could lay my mitts on.

Go Dr. Tim

Dogger

[r.magnay]

Doesn't bother me in the least. Bit more cash in my back pocket.

I think it's for the best.

Long live the lion!

My response to that is, Wimmig, you use the term "Think" very loosely!

With a statement like that you don't very often do it!

[gregb]

This has vexed me for a few days.

Sure I am not pleased to see a sucessful family run Australian business get taken over by a Multi National. Lion Nathan is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, so chances are some of your super is invested in LNN shares.

The question is where would it leave me the punter?

Would the product range decrease or increase? Would the quality of the product change? Speculation is rife, but does anyone have any facts?

If the deal goes ahead, I will continue to buy Coopers products, IF the price spikes, or the quality slumps etc, I will change brands.

The LNN press release states:
"Regardless of the outcome, our preference would be for the Cooper family and the management team to continue their close involvement with the business and we would welcome an appropriate Coopers representative on the Borad of Lion Nathan, should Lion Nathan be successful in acquiring Coopers."

I also will continue to buy Lion Nathan products (Tooheys Old to name but one).

Whilst doing some research I struck accross this list:
http://www.lion-nathan.com.au/our+brands/beer/australia/australia.htm
notice any on that list that you ( to use market research speak) "have bought in the past, and would buy again" or "would recomend to your friends"

Still not sure if I like or dislike the idea of the take over.

Cheers,

Greg

[grabman]

isn't it scary just how much they do have their hooks into already!

Seeing the James Squire brews also of course meand they have a hook into Maltshovel brews.

At this rate they'll "own" all our beers. Wonder if they are stupid enough to want fosters or vb on their list?

[Oliver]

The hostile takeover bid and the court action that Cooper's won last week (and which Lion Nathan says it will probably appeal against) are separate, if related, issues.

There was a good article in this weekend's (September 3-4) Weekend Australian newspaper dealing with the issues. I'll track it down, as it doesn't appear to be on the web.

In the article, Cooper's reveals that it had held discussions this year with Lion Nathan about brewing West End beers at Cooper's new Regency Park brewery. If this had gone ahead (or if the takeover is successful) you could easily infer that this would mean the closure of SA Brewing's Southwark Brewery at Thebarton.

Oliver

[Oliver]

Call me a naive traditionalist, but I think there's something nice about Cooper's being family owned and operated, and also being a South Australian firm (me being from SA and all).

If anyone thinks that there will be cheaper beer if the takeover succeeds then they're dreaming. Any efficiencies will go into the pockets of Lion Nathan shareholders, not to beer drinkers. I mean, LN produces James Squire beers, and they're certainly out of the price range of most everyday drinkers.

I buy Australian made and owned where I can, and if Cooper's is not Australian owned, I will not be so willing to buy their products. Of course, I still will, but will be much more open to buying other products than I once was. There will be a hell of a lot more Little Creatures, Matilda Bay and other beers consumed by me. Matilda Bay might be owned by one of the big boys, but at least it's Foster's, which is Australian owned.

Here's hoping the appeal against the court decision last week fails miserably, which would make it even harder for LN to get its dirty, rotten, stinking hands on Cooper's.

Also, there is the real risk that they'll f--- up Cooper's beers, as Foster's did when it took over Matilda Bay in the early '90s. People that I've talked to at Matilda Bay say that the takeover was a great success in terms of sales, but a disaster in terms of beer quality. As it has been told to me, MB was forced to use raw materials from Foster's suppliers and do things the Foster's way. As a result MB beers lost their uniqueness and became more like most bland, Australian offerings. In the past couple of years, MB has again been able to do its own thing. But it was more than a decade before Foster's realised the error of its ways and gave some freedom back to MB.

To back up my case, read our review of Matilda Bay's Redback Original and have a look at the comments by a beer reviewer at the bottom of the page.

And how many of the staff will hang around. If Cooper's is the victim of a hostile takeover, I can't imagine that too many of the family members and other staff will be wanting to stay to help out Lion Nathan.

I think one of my friends summed up the mood fairly well:

If those c#nts buy out Cooper's I'm going to boycott all Cooper's products, LNN Products and Pubs.

Strong words, yes, but I think he says concisely what a few of us are thinking.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Dogger Dan]

Oliver,

You do this for a living don't you

I'm with you though. When I mentioned the take over at the HBS they almost cried. We can only get our hands on Coopers, Black Rock and Morgans with the occasional Edme and John Bull so we are limited to poor over priced products.

I discovered Coopers products about 15 years ago and was pleasently suprised. It was hands above any of the other kits. This year I tried Morgans and Black Rock for the HBS and have not been pleased at all, very thin boddied, no real taste.

If the bid goes through which from what I have read it shouldn't (It certainly wouldn't here in Canada) It would be a major blow to Canadian Home Brewing. Not so much for people like me, who can do partials or all grain but to the newbies in the hobby looking for good product with good results.

So to think it would only impact Australia, no I say, it would be an International Catastrophe. So yes, I will pass on the Steinlager and Hahn and Tooheys and I hope their boat gets waxed at Americas Cup.

Dogger