Upped KKR offer for Australia's Treasury Wine raises bidding war prospect

Australia's Treasury Wine Estates (TWE.AX) is opening its books to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP (KKR.N) after the private equity giant hiked its takeover offer to $3.15 billion, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the world's No.2 winemaker. Treasury, which rejected a $2.9 billion unsolicited bid from KKR in April, said the 10.6 percent rise in the offer price meant it was now "in the interests of shareholders to engage further." China's Bright Food Group Co Ltd [SHMNGA.UL], France's Pernod Ricard (PERP.PA) and the world's biggest wine maker, U.S.-based Constellation Brands Inc (STZ.N), have all been mooted as potential buyers of Treasury. "Absolutely there are (rival bidders), they've now kind of set a starting point for the price," said Shannon Rivkin, director at Rivkin Securities.

via Business News http://ift.tt/1skWnC8