Canadian dairy Saputo Inc on Friday said it had extended its offer for Australia's Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co by a week, pending a regulatory proceeding. Saputo, Canada's biggest dairy company, is in a three-way battle with Australian rivals Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co Ltd and Bega Cheese Ltd for Warrnambool, which is attractive as a platform for sales into China.But Saputo's offer was dealt a blow two weeks ago when Australia's Takeovers Panel stopped the company from processing acceptances for its A$515 million offer.Murray Goulburn, the second biggest holder in Warrnambool, had asked the panel to stop Saputo from processing acceptances and block the Canadian company's most recent offer. The injunction on processing acceptances can last up to two months.Saputo pushed back the closing date of its offer period by a week to next Friday, the company said in a filing to the stock exchange, buying itself more time.
Saputo Inc. produces, markets and distributes an array of dairy products in Canada, the United States, Argentina and Europe, as well as bakery products in Canada. Shares of SAP fell by 1.5% or $-0.71/share to $46.71. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $46.01 and as high as $54.62. On average, 296350 shares of SAP.TO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 323138.
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