Lion Nathan Ltd, which owns 84.4% of Banksia Wines (the once-independent and publicly listed agglomeration of St Hallett, Tatachilla and Hillstowe), is presently being thwarted from owning the entire company by UK-based Allied Domecq Plc. Allied Domecq is of course the company that foiled Lion Nathan’s ambitions to own New Zealand’s largest wine maker, Montana, in one of that country’s more celebrated corporate stoushes. Lion Nathan’s latest move, an offer to Allied Domecq to purchase the remaining Banksia shares at $1.27 per share, values the parcel around 12.5 million AUD. Independent experts, Baron Partners, believe this to be more than a fair thing, since they value the shares between $1.05 and $1.23. While Lion Nathan’s chief executive Gordon Cairns also claims the price is ‘demonstrably fair’, it remains to be seen whether or not Allied Domecq is going to make life any easier for Lion Nathan by accepting the offer. Given the approach Allied has taken towards Lion Nathan over the last three years, which if not exactly in the same ballpark as Saddam Hussein’s tolerance towards the Kurds has much in common with it, I doubt they’ll bite. With a market capitalisation around US$7 billion, do they really need Lion Nathan’s $12.5 million? Why wouldn’t they remain a thorn in Lion’s side for a lot longer than this?
