Bega Cheese in $400 million capital raising to pay for Lion Dairy and Drinks

Bega Cheese is well on the way to raising money to help pay for the Lion Dairy and Drinks business. Find out about the retail share offer.

BEGA Cheese has opened up its share offer to raise $117 million from existing retail shareholders to help pay for its acquisition of Lion Dairy and Drinks.

Shareholders have the option to buy one share for every 4.5 shares they hold at a price of $4.60, which is a 9.1 per cent discount to the closing price of $5.06 on November 20, the last day of trading before the purchase of LD & D was announced.

They are also able to buy additional shares up to 50 per cent of their entitlement as part of an oversubscription arrangement.

The retail offering follows the successful raising of $284 million from existing and new institutional investors last week when the LD & D deal was announced.

Bega Cheese has already issued more than 62 million shares to institutional investors that begin trading this morning.

Bega Cheese chairman Barry Irvin said the company hoped to raise $401 million from shareholders to contribute to the $534 million acquisition price for LD & D.

In a letter to shareholders, Mr Irvin said the Lion portfolio would help Bega to create a large-scale dairy and foods business.

The brands include Dairy Farmers, Farmers Union, Pura, Dare, Vitasoy, Yoplait, Berri and Daily Juice Co.

In 2017, Bega Cheese bought the Vegemite, Kraft peanut butter and sliced cheese and Zoosh salad dressing brands from Mondelez International.

Retail investors have until 5pm on December 14 to take up their share entitlements.

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