By Ulrike Dauer 
 

FRANKFURT--German shareholder protection associations DSW and SdK are advising their members to turn down EP Global Commerce's takeover offer for Metro AG (B4B.XE), an offer both organizations consider insufficient.

EPGC, an investment vehicle owned by Czech and Slovak partners, offered 16 euros ($18.22) per ordinary share and EUR13.80 per preferred share, valuing the German retailer at EUR5.8 billion. Metro shunned the offer, but said it would comment further once the full offer document was available.

Jella Benner-Heinacher, deputy managing director of DSW, said the offer price was too low.

"Considering that EPGC aims to take full control of Metro, even a premium of 30% over the current share price wouldn't be sufficient," she said.

EPGC's offer represented a premium of about 3% over Friday's closing price of ordinary shares.

"The offer seems too low to be accepted," said SdK spokesperson Daniel Bauer. He noted that Metro is in the midst of a restructuring process, which isn't a good time to sell.

Nevertheless, two large Metro shareholders have decided to sell their shares to EPGC. Investor Haniel will divest its 15.2% share, while Ceconomy SE (CEC.XE) has sold its share of approximately 9% to EPGC, retaining around 1%.

 

Write to Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 25, 2019 11:43 ET (15:43 GMT)

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