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By Abhinav Ramnarayan
LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - British money manager M&G
has added to the voices criticising a proposed private
equity takeover of British supermarket chain Morrisons,
saying it does not reflect the true value of the company.
Morrisons this month agreed to a takeover led by SoftBank
Group Corp-owned Fortress, which valued Britain's
fourth-largest supermarket chain at about 6.3 billion pounds
($8.8 billion) and topped a rival offer from Apollo.
Rupert Krefting, head of corporate finance and stewardship
at M&G, which owns a 1.08% stake in Morrisons, said in an
emailed statement that Fortress's proposals could be achieved by
the supermarket chain while remaining in public ownership.
"The company has experienced a successful management
turnaround over the past five years and has a strong balance
sheet," Krefting said in the statement.
Earlier this week, Morrisons' largest shareholder Silchester
said it was not inclined to support the offer, while top five
shareholder Schroders said on Thursday it was still considering
its position.
JO Hambro, which owns a 1.93% stake, has also said that the
proposed price per share is too low, The Daily Telegraph
reported earlier on Thursday.
($1 = 0.7160 pounds)
(Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan
Editing by Jane Merriman and David Holmes)
