Mr Kipling owner says £1.5bn buyout offer needs sweetening

Premier Foods, the owner of Mr Kipling along with a number of other well-known brands, has rejected a third offer from US giant McCormick, saying it "continues to undervalue" growth prospects.

The company revealed last week it had rejected previous offers worth 52p and 60p per share, notes the Financial Times. McCormick upped its offer to 65p per share today, valuing the business at around £1.5bn, including its pension liabilities.

On 23 March, before the first approach was disclosed, Premier Foods' shares were languishing at just 31p. They rose 50 per cent that day and then surged ten per cent again yesterday. The stock is up 5.6 per cent again today at around 59.7p.

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While it rejected the latest bid, Premier Foods said in a statement it is "willing to open talks" with its wannabe buyer, reports the BBC.

The company owns the likes of Mr Kipling, Bisto, Oxo and Ambrosia, among others. It also produces Cadbury cake products under licence and has a 49 per cent stake in a joint venture that owns Hovis bread.

McCormick, best known for its Schwartz spices and Lawry's seasonings, believes it will be able to extract significant revenue synergies from a tie-up.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph last week, Premier Foods' chief executive, Gavin Darby, intimated that a bid might be forthcoming that would better than McCormick's.

This presaged the purchase of a 17 per cent stake in the company from investor group Warburg Pincus by Japanese noodle maker Nissin, which also agreed an "international collaboration agreement", prompting speculation that Darby had known about the deal.

Premier Foods has since issued a stated denying the chief executive had any knowledge of the talks and that he was referring to an improved offer from either McCormick itself or Nissin or other third parties.