Daetwyler leaves door open for sweetened Premier Farnell bid
ZURICH, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Swiss technical and electronic components distributor Daetwyler on Friday left the door open for sweetening a bid for Britain's Premier Farnell after a rival offer submitted by U.S. group Avnet.
Premier Farnell last month withdrew a recommendation for the Daetwyler cash offer of 165 pence per share after Avnet's bid of 185 pence. The stock closed on Thursday at 194.
"Regarding the existing acquisition offer for Premier Farnell, Daetwyler is currently considering how to proceed in view of the higher offer submitted by Avnet, and will communicate in due course," it said in its interim results statement.
Daetwyler said that if the board of directors decided not to pursue the acquisition, it would incur one-off deal costs of around 4 million to 8 million Swiss francs ($4.1-8.2 million).
It also faced one-off costs of around 35 million to 40 million francs for currency hedging and exchange rate losses, which could hit its financial result.
The company reported first-half net profit jumped 34.4 percent to 56.6 million Swiss francs and confirmed its outlook for the full year 2016.
($1 = 0.9746 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Anna Serafin in Gdynia; Editing by Michael Shields)
