THREE big investors say China's Bright Food Group needs to make a firm bid for CSR's sugar unit before they will take the approach seriously, a sign the Shanghai company may struggle to gain traction with shareholders.
The CSR investors - all among its 10 largest - told The Australian Financial Review CSR shouldn't cancel plans to float its sugar and renewable energy business, Sucrogen, on the share market. A court hearing to approve the split is scheduled for tomorrow.
On Tuesday, Shanghai-based Bright Food said it was interested in buying Sucrogen for "not more" than $1.5 billion, 30 per cent more than CSR suggested the unit was worth late last year. CSR's board said the approach wasn't "capable of being accepted" because it wasn't a formal offer.
"As we've seen with these Chinese shots across the bow - who knows where it ends up?" said one CSR investor. "The demerger has been talked about for years."
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