UNILEVER'S final offer for Lyons Irish Holdings formally closes today and all the indications are that Unilever will he left with a rump of minority shareholders holding over 20 per cent of the Lyons shares, writes Brendan McGrath.

In a statement yesterday, Unilever said that, as of last Saturday, it had received acceptances in respect of a further 2.8 per cent bringing its total stake in Lyons to 77.8 per cent. Given the vociferous opposition of the Lyons board to an offer that it has described as inadequate, market sources believe that even with a last minute rush to accept, Unilever will do well to increase its stake to 80 per cent.

The likely final level of acceptances would leave Unilever far short of what would be required to compulsorily acquire the outstanding shares, but recent statements from Unilever indicate the group is resigned to operating with a sizeable rump of minority shareholders.

The fact that Unilever will not own 100 per cent of Lyons means the Anglo Dutch giant will not have unrestricted access to Lyons's £51 million cash pile, cash that Unilever would have liked to reduce the overall cost of buying Lyons. Unilever paid Allied Domecq for its 75 per cent stake in Lyons and the additional 2.8 per cent obtained as of last [Saturday cost Unilever an extra £2.7 million.

One serious option, however, that would give Unilever access to some of the Lyons cash without penalising any of the minority shareholders is the payment of a special dividend. Lyons paid a dividend of 12.8p per share for the year to August 17th and could easily pay a special dividend - 78 per cent of which would go directly to Unilever.