News: TGR UPDATE 1-Australia's Tassal Group rejects $720 mln buyout bid from Cooke Inc

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June 28 (Reuters) - Australia's Tassal Group (TGR) said on Tuesday it has rejected a non-binding takeover bid from Canadian aquaculture firm Cooke Inc, which valued the seafood supplier at A$1.04 billion ($719.89 million).

The A$4.85 per share offer represents a 22.2% premium to Tassal's Monday closing price of A$3.970. The offer comes just a day after Cooke revealed it had acquired https://cdn-api.markitdigital.com/apiman-gateway/ASX/asx-research/1.0/file/2924-02535583-3A596129?access_token=83ff96335c2d45a094df02a206a39ff4 a 5.4% stake in the Hobart, Australia-based firm.

Tassal revealed that the Canadian firm had earlier made an offer of A$4.80 per share after initially proposing an A$4.67 per share bid.

Tassal's board evaluated the proposals and chose not to engage with Cooke as these did not reflect the fundamental value of the business and were not in the best interests of shareholders, it said.

The board further added that the company had an attractive independent future and was well positioned to deliver growth in shareholder value.

Cooke did not respond to a Reuters request for a comment outside business hours.

($1 = 1.4447 Australian dollars)