Lion Nathan CEO: Bid For Australia's Coca-Cola Amatil Won't Turn Hostile

November 23, 2008 8:42 a.m. EST

Sydney, Australia (AHN) - Australia's No.2 brewer Lion Nathan Ltd. said it will not let its bid to acquire Lion Nathan Ltd. become hostile, after it indicated that it may pull out of a A$7.6 billion ($4.75 billion) takeover bid.

"Let's be under no illusions, we're not even remotely thinking this could be done on a hostile basis," Rob Murray, chief executive officer of the Sydney-based company, was quoted saying by Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday.

Murray added, "We're not interested about that, and if at any stage this becomes genuinely hostile then we will just get back to our day job and focus on the knitting and drive our beer business."

Coca-Cola Amatil on Monday dismissed the A$7.6 billion takeover offer by Lion Nathan after the company was not able to win enough support from its 30 percent shareholder in the favor of the bid.

"Certainly the Coca-Cola Company are an enormous and significant stakeholder in this. Their interests need to be listened to, and wherever we can accommodate those interests we will," Murray said on the news channel.

He continued, "On the other hand, the other 70 per cent of Coca-Cola Amatil shareholders probably need to be heard as well and I'm sure there are many of them who, now they have had a bit more time to reflect on it, can see the inherent merit in this proposal."

Murray has indicated that Lion Nathan would like to hold talks with its parent company, Kirin Holdings Co., and Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. (KO) to discuss the future steps on the acquisition of Coca-Cola Amatil.

On Nov. 17, the company confirmed that it is in discussions with Coca-Cola Amatil regarding its potential merger with Lion Nathan, which would acquire all of the issued shares in Coca-Cola Amatil via a scheme of arrangement.

"The reason we came to the table is we felt that on a friendly basis there was a great opportunity here to create value for all shareholders and all stakeholders," Murray said on ABC1's Inside Business program on Sunday morning.

Lion Nathan's proposed offer consideration is $6.15 in cash plus 0.469 Lion Nathan ordinary shares per Coca- Cola Amatil share.