MARKET talk that Macquarie will soon be appointed to help Bright Food in its CSR sugar acquisition campaign signal that Brand China is fighting back from damage to its reputation flowing from mismanaged acquisition efforts, outside of the resources sector, in Australia.
Macquarie is set to sit alongside the Rothschild team that has been guiding Bright Food to date. The fresh appointment is timely as the Federal Court's rejection of the CSR demerger (due to concerns over asbestos liabilities) has given Bright Food a final chance to establish its credentials as an acquirer of the sugar business.
Previous overtures from Bright Food have been easily discounted by the CSR board, both because of the highly conditional nature of the $1.5 billion offer, and because the Chinese acquirer badly mismanaged communications with CSR. Sharing offer details with the Australian media in mid-January before discussing them with CSR was an unconventional approach.
Bright Food's bungling came just days after another Chinese company, Sinochem, left Australian investors feeling bruised after seeking to lower its offer price for Nufarm after a lengthy due diligence.
Working together on the Bright Food assignment will be the latest in a number of deals where Macquarie and Rothschild have worked co-operatively in recent months. A Rothschild team was called in to advise the independent directors of Macquarie Infrastructure Group on separation from Macquarie, and Rothschild picked up a mandate to advise on a debt restructure at the troubled Macquarie-managed European Directories.
Email a friend