Amsterdam, Oct 6 - Shares in Dutch supermarkets group Super de Boer NV, targeted in a long-awaited consolidation of Dutch grocers, hovered below an intended offer price on Tuesday, reflecting doubt about whether a higher bid will come.
Cooperatively-owned Sperwer said on Monday it planned to make a cash offer of 4.50 euros per share for Super de Boer, valuing the company at about 516 million euros ($754.3 million), trumping an earlier offer of 480 million euros from privately-owned rival Jumbo.
Shares in Super de Boer were up slightly at 4.456 euros by 0928 GMT, having risen 7.1 percent on Monday.
"We are hovering below the 4.50 level and the question is, what will be the reaction of Jumbo?" an Amsterdam trader said. "I think Jumbo will react in a short time, but what that will be we can only guess -- either a higher bid or they will pull it back."
Super de Boer, 57 percent owned by Casino of Frnace, said it would assess the intended Sperwer offer, which is subject to due diligence, but declined to comment further. Analysts have been speculating about a wave of consolidation in the Dutch supermarket sector for some years as smaller players struggling to compete with the market dominance of Royal Ahold NV, owner of the Albert Heijn chain.
But trade magazine Distrifood said on its website that Jumbo, which is already in exclusive talks with Super de Boer, is not taking the rival bid from Sperwer seriously.
"There is only an intention to make a bid. The conditions that Sperwer links to it makes the chances of success uncertain," Jumbo spokesman Jeroen Sparrow was quoted saying.
Jumbo was not immediately available for comment.
Some saw scope for a higher offer from Jumbo, partly because the latter has said it is prepared to quit a purchasing agreement called SuperUnie, that links together several grocers, in favour of a deal with rival Schuitema.
"Given that Jumbo is willing to leave the purchasing combination SuperUnie shows again that it is really ambitious, making it likely that a higher offer will follow," SNS Securities analyst Richard Withagen said.
The intended offer from Sperwer came after Jumbo said on Monday it had reached a deal with Schuitema, owned by private equity firm CVC, in which it would sell about 80 Super de Boer stores to Schuitema if its offer for Super de Boer is successful.
Jumbo also said it would enter into a purchasing agreement with Schuitema, adding it underscored the attractiveness of its 4.20 euros per share offer for Super de Boer.