Whole Earth Brands Inc.’s largest shareholder, Martin Franklin, has made an offer to acquire the rest of the company.
(Bloomberg) — Whole Earth Brands Inc.’s largest shareholder, Martin Franklin, has made an offer to acquire the rest of the company.
The serial dealmaker submitted a non-binding proposal of $4 per share in cash for the health food company, according to a regulatory filing Monday. That represents a 28% premium to Whole Earth Brands’s last closing price.
A deal at that price would value Whole Earth Brands at about $169 million, or roughly $593 million including debt, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Shares of Whole Earth Brands jumped as much as 21% in pre-market New York trading Monday.
Franklin already owns more than 21% of the company. He wants to combine Whole Earth Brands with another consumer company he controls, charcoal seller Royal Oak Enterprises, according to the filing.
Shares of Whole Earth Brands, which appointed Martin Franklin’s son Michael as interim chief executive officer late last year, had lost about half their value over the past year. They closed at $3.12 a share on Friday, giving the company a market value of $132 million.
A representative for Whole Earth Brands couldn’t immediately be reached for comment outside regular business hours.
Whole Earth Brands went public in 2020 through a merger with a blank-check firm during the boom in special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. The company owns sugar alternative brands including Whole Earth sweeteners and Pure Via, according to its website.
Irwin Simon, the chairman of marijuana company Tilray Brands Inc., is also the chairman of Whole Earth Brands. Martin Franklin runs a family office, Mariposa Capital, which owns other consumer brands including fragrance maker Curio Brands.
(Updates with value in third paragraph.)
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