Rival bidder for Jefferson Smurfit possible as dollar falls

EQUITY: Markets are still hedging their bets on whether a rival bidder will emerge for Jefferson Smurfit as a weakening dollar eats into the value of the €3.7 billion Madison Dearborn deal. A source close to the situation said Texas Pacific, which had earlier approached Smurfit, was struggling to get access to key managers.

Texas Pacific was reported to be doing due diligence work on Smurfit but its inability to meet company managers meant it was unlikely the company would be able to gather all the information necessary to table a formal bid.

"The problem is not data but getting access to the management. We don't know why we are not getting access to them," one source said. "Meetings are not getting scheduled. Things are not moving forward and the clock is ticking," the source added.

Mr Tom Godfrey, a director of IBI, the investment bank which, along with UBS Warburg, is advising the sub-committee of independent directors at Smurfit who ruled on the bid, said: "Any request for a meeting by a serious bidder will be accommodated in a timeframe that is achievable."

On Monday, Smurfit agreed a bid from US private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, which valued the company at €3.7 billion. Smurfit also announced it had received an approach from another party four weeks earlier, which sources later identified as US private equity house Texas Pacific.

Madison Dearborn has tied Smurfit's key executives to its deal, a position they cannot alter unless the bid is withdrawn or fails.

Smurfit shares ended yesterday's session at €3.11, below the €3.26 offer price. Traders said the differential was not so large as to discount a bid, blaming the fall on the declining value of the dollar, which lessens the worth of the Smurfit Stone Container Corp shares that Smurfit investors will receive if they accept the bid. (Additional reporting by Reuters)