Steinhoff-owned Conforama has confirmed it will not be upping its final offer for London-listed Darty, despite being trumped by Fnac.
The board of Conforama said its third increased offer of 160 pence per Darty share was final and would not be increased.
Conforama’s offer falls short of Fnac’s third and final bid of 170p per share – equivilent to £914m – for Darty, which was tabled on Monday.
Conforama chief executive Alexander Nodale said: “Our independent board and management had a clear valuation in mind for the standalone Darty business.
“Our final offer of 160 pence for each Darty share reflects the evaluation criteria we use for all acquisitions, including return on investment and value creation.
“We remain of the opinion that, at this price, the Darty business would have been a good addition to the Steinhoff group of businesses but at an increased price it would no longer create sufficient value for Steinhoff shareholders, employees and other stakeholders.”
Fnac has also upped its stake in the London-listed electricals retailer to 29.7%.
Conforama’s update follows a frenetic battle to acquire Darty, which unanimously recommended a previous offer from Conforama of 138p just two weeks ago.
Darty boss Regis Schultz told Retail Week last month that he welcomed the takeover interest because the French electricals market needed to be consolidated.
However, he refused to be drawn on whether Conforama or Fnac were his preferred bidders.
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