CVC makes Univar bid formal

CVC Capital Partners has made its €1.5bn bid at €53.50 a share for Univar finally official, having first announced the deal on July 19. On the back of the announcement, Univar shares surged 6% to €51.83.

There had been doubts in the market as to whether CVC would be able to push ahead with the LBO because of the current volatility in the debt markets.

The tender offer period for Univar shares will run from August 21 to September 19 and CVC is looking for at least 95% of the shares to be tendered before the deal goes unconditional.

HAL Holding, an international investment company based in the Netherlands Antilles, owns about 26.6% of Univar shares and has already said it is backing CVC’s offer.