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XAVIER UNIVERSITY "NOT WITH OUR MONEY" CAMPAIGN
"The poor and minorities are disproportionately among both the victims as well as those in prison."
-Bishop Sullivan
PARIS, May 2 (Reuters) - Sodexho Alliance, the world's biggest catering firm, has agreed to buy the 52 percent of U.S. unit Sodexho
Marriott Services it does not own after raising its bid to $32 per share from $27, the company said on Wednesday.
Sodexho Alliance said the deal's value was $1.079 billion, up from $900 million when it made its initial offer in January. The move will
enhance earnings in 2002 and 2003 by six percent before goodwill and be neutral after writedowns, it said.
"The current transaction at $32 per share has been approved by the board of directors of Sodexho Marriott Services based on the
recommendation of the special committee (which evaluated the initial offer)," Sodexho Alliance said in a statement.
While the initial bid represented a nine percent premium to SMS's closing share price at the time, some investors said Sodexho Marriott
Services, north America's largest caterer, might hold out for a higher offer.
Shares in the U.S. unit closed at $29.37 on Monday which means the raised bid offers a 8.95 percent premium. Sodexho Alliance took
a 48 percent in SMS when it was formed in 1998.
"We have the highest regard for and full confidence in the management and associates of Sodexho Marriott Services. We do not
anticipate any change in the management, strategy or operations of Sodexho Marriott Services," Sodexho Chairman Pierre Bellon said
in a statement.
Sodexho, which provides services from prison canteens to restaurants on boats on the River Seine in Paris, said after the deal the
additional debt on its balance sheet would be 800 million euros and that its debt-to-equity ratio would be 1.12.
Sodexho Alliance plans a one billion euro share issue to existing shareholders to help fund the bid. Bellon SA, which owns 40.2 percent
of Sodexho Alliance, will subscribe in full to its part of the share issue.
02:10 05-02-01
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