(Adds further background, quote)
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - WM Morrison investor
Silchester is not inclined to support a takeover offer from
private equity firm Fortress Investment Group at upcoming court
and shareholder meetings, it said on Tuesday.
Silchester, which owns a 15.14% stake in the British
supermarket chain, said in a statement that there is little in
the recommended offer that could not be achieved by Morrisons as
a listed company.
Morrisons this month agreed to a takeover led by
SoftBank-owned Fortress Investment Group, which valued
Britain's fourth-largest supermarket chain at 6.3 billion pounds
($8.7 billion) and topped a rival offer from Apollo.
The agreement included a scheme of arrangement with a 75%
hurdle for shareholder acceptance and squeeze out.
Silchester said it considers such schemes of arrangement
disadvantageous to public companies in general.
"In this particular case, the scheme of arrangement has
enabled the adoption of a short timetable, giving insufficient
opportunity for competing bids to emerge," it said in the
statement, adding that it encourages the Morrisons board to
allow more time to respond to other parties who might offer
better value to shareholders.
Private equity firms, many of which are awash with cash,
have been hoovering up British companies in droves, with volumes
at a record high so far this year compared with the same period
in previous years.
John Laing Infrastructure was taken private by KKR this
year, as was UDG Healthcare by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
(Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan
Additional reporting by Simon Jessop
Editing by Rachel Armstrong and David Goodman
)