Brumby’s Management Finds Dough For Bid

Smh

The management of Brumby’s Bakeries Ltd want to have their cake and eat it too after putting in a rival bid for the bakery franchise operator.

Brumby’s chief executive and director Michael Sherlock, who holds a 21 per cent stake in the business, is heading the proposed management buy-out to mop up the balance of Brumby’s for $28.44 million.

His syndicate is offering the 300 shareholders of the Bendigo Stock Exchange-listed group, $2.80 per share plus a fully franked dividend of 10.883 cents per share.

Gold Coast-based Retail Food, which manages under licence the Donut King and bb’s cafe brands in Australia and New Zealand, made a pre-Christmas $38 million offer comprising of $2.685 a share plus the dividend.

Shares in Retail Food weakened as much as 8.05 per cent or 10.5 cents throughout the day to $1.20 after the management buy-out plan was unveiled.

Shares in the company closed at $1.25, down 5.5 cents or 4.21 per cent.

Mr Sherlock told AAP that the Retail Food offer triggered his syndicate, which also comprises Brumby’s director Marcus Barlow and company secretary Steve Brown, into coming up with a bid.

“It was something that’s been in the back of our minds,” Mr Sherlock said.