Bid Battle Looms as HMV Is Cleared to Buy Ottakar's
Susie Mesure Retail Correspondent, The Independent (London, England)
The starting gun was fired yesterday for an auction of the book chain Ottakar's after a report clearing the way for HMV to take over its smaller rival revealed that several prospective suitors had considered bidding for the group last autumn.
Analysts predicted that competition for Ottakar's, tipped to come from HMV, which owns Waterstone's, and WH Smith, could push the value of a bid up to as much as 400p per share, or pounds 88m. Shares in Ottakar's rose 4 per cent to 332.5p on the speculation, although shares in HMV and WH Smith slipped on fears that either could end up overpaying for the UK's No 3 book retailer.
Yesterday formal clearance from the Competition …
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Publication information:
Article title: Bid Battle Looms as HMV Is Cleared to Buy Ottakar's.
Contributors: Susie Mesure Retail Correspondent - Author.
Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England).
Publication date: May 13, 2006.
Page number: 49.
© 2009 The Independent - London.
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