The Archer Daniels Midland Company raised its offer for GrainCorp on Monday, valuing the Australian grains processor at about $2.9 billion, as the agricultural products giant pressed ahead with its unsolicited takeover bid.
It comes three weeks after GrainCorp rejected A.D.M.'s last offer as insufficient.
Under the terms of the revised proposal, A.D.M. would pay 12.20 Australian dollars a share, 80 cents higher than its previous offer. The new price is 39.6 percent higher than GrainCorp's closing price on Oct. 18, the last trading day before the first offer became public.
The American suitor also said that it had raised its holdings in GrainCorp again, to 19.9 percent, after having purchased an additional 5 percent stake. Archer Daniels is now at the maximum level allowed by Australian regulators.
Behind the takeover campaign is a bid by Archer Daniels to expand its global agricultural process and oilseeds businesses
In its statement, the agri business titan said that its latest offer accounts for GrainCorp's annual results for 2012 that were announced last month, including a profit of 204.9 million Australian dollars. Any finalized deal is subject to due diligence.
“ADM is a disciplined buyer, and any combination with GrainCorp must meet our key financial hurdles, taking into consideration the impact of the Australian agricultural cycle on GrainCorp's earnings power,†Patricia Woertz, Acher Daniel's chairwoman and chief executive said.
