Mr Bricolage halts acquisition by Kingfisher

The acquisition of French group Mr Bricolage by the British DIY group Kingfisher has stalled. Mr Bricolage shares were suspended from trading on Monday (23 March 2015). Two days later, Mr Bricolage issued a press release stating that some members of the supervisory board did not agree with the manner in which Kingfisher was seeking to secure the approval of the cartel authorities for the deal.
According to the press release, the board feared that implementation of the measures proposed by Kingfisher would result in a large number of stores in the Mr Bricolage and Les Briconautes distribution channels being lost. It would also lead to links being cut with some affiliated stores not using the brand name, and to a greater extent than originally envisaged. The measures would have caused destabilisation of the network of affiliated members. There has been talk in the UK press that 33 franchise stores and 11 outlets directly operated by Mr Bricolage would have had to be sold to meet the conditions of the cartel watchdogs. Reports in the French press spoke of around 60 stores in all being affected.
The takeover plan published in July 2014 proposed the acquisition by Kingfisher of 41.9 per cent of Mr Bricolage shares from ANPF, an organisation controlled by the franchisees, at € 15 per share. 26.2 per cent was to be acquired from the Tabur family. Their representatives on the board have voted against the decision now taken. The transaction would have cost Kingfisher € 275 mio.