Shares of Dallas-based Dean Foods Co. were up more than 6 percent Friday on speculation that the nation's largest dairy processor could be a takeover target.
One rumored suitor was Paris-based Groupe Danone SA, although it was unclear where the speculation originated. But Danone has been focused more on high-margin, scientifically formulated products such as its Activia probiotic yogurt, said Eric Scher, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York.
"It doesn't make very much sense for Danone," Scher said.
With Dean's stock price down from highs of nearly $22 a share last summer, it might make an attractive target for someone willing to pay about $8 billion, said Sanford Bernstein analyst Alexia Howard. Shares closed Friday at $16, up 94 cents.
Any Dean purchaser would have to contend with debt of at least $4 billion as of Dec. 31 and a federal anti-trust lawsuit.
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