Cossette Receives Further Buy-Out Bid

In Canada, marcoms and ad group Cossette has received a further offer from Cosmos Capital to buy the firm, following last week's news that its Board had accepted an offer to be acquired by US private equity firm Mill Road for C$131.5m in cash or $7.87 a share.

Cossette provides strategic planning and research services through Nucleus and Impact Research in Canada, Cossette in the US, and Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy in the UK.

The group has approximately 1,485 employees, and offices in Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, New York, Irvine, Los Angeles, London and Shanghai.

Cosmos says it will match Mill Road's offer to buy Cossette, and adds that it could go even higher.

'Our decision to match the other proposal demonstrates Cosmos' commitment to pursue the acquisition of Cossette and our strong belief in the future of the company,' Cosmos said in a statement yesterday.

The latest all-cash offer is 50% higher than Cosmos' original unsolicited bid of C$88m made back in July. At the time, Cossette rejected the offer and officially put itself up for sale.

According to reports, a source close to the negotiations said Cosmos plans to force rival Mill Road to either raise its own bid, or back down from the takeover.

This is the third attempt by Cosmos to take over Cossette. The investment firm controls about 37% of outstanding voting shares, while Cossette's management and the Board control about 30%.

Cossette has not yet responded to this latest news.

Web site: www.cossette.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.