Susan Gordon, Business Reporter

Mayberry CEO, Gary Peart - File

Mayberry Investments Limited flatly refused to go public with the size of the take-up on its $40.08 per share offer for Salada, but indications are the company was snubbed by holders of the coffee stock.

Meantime, the company's stock price has fallen closer to its starting position before the bid rivalry, closing $15 down on the stock market Wednesday at $55.

Three Bear's mandatory offer for the 39.77 per cent of the company held by minority interests also generated no interest, which principal Donovan Lewis said he both expected and desired.

"Our position remains as is," Lewis told the Financial Gleaner on Tuesday.

He said Three Bear's 60.23 shareholding had not bee indicating that his company had divested none of its holdings to Mayberry.

51 per cent stake

Mayberry went after a 51 per cent stake in Salada in late August, extending the one-month offer to October 5, but acceptance of its bid fell below target even after the company increased the offer price from $32.50 to $40.08 per share.

Chief Executive Officer Gary Peart, though pressed several times, declined comment on the take-up, saying that Mayberry's not achieving the target was all that was important.

"We were not successful in getting the 51 per cent and for the people who sold their shares we paid them the offer price," he said.

"We're just moving on to another project."

Prior to its offer, Mayberry owned 31,250 Salada stock units or 0.3 per cent of the company.

Its hostile bid was launched as counter to the mandatory takeover offer in August by Three Bears, which last year acquired controlling interest in the company.

Lewis, following the launch of his bid, which was priced at $25.82, actively discouraged take-up of his offer, saying he had no interest in acquiring a bigger stake in the coffee company, a small company with fixed assets valued on the balance sheet at $43 million, and equity of over $200 million.

The outcome for Mayberry was not surprising, given signals from brokers that the bid held little value for shareholders, and early indications from Lewis of Three Bears that he would not be selling any of his 60.23 per cent share of the company.

The Mayberry offer and the company's one-sided fight helped push the stock price as much as 55 per cent higher in a month.

The stock price climbed from $45 in August to $67, but had reached $70 at one point in September.

Mayberry has never commented on why it made the offer, nor how much it caused the company to launch the failed bid.

The company also failed to follow through on a hastily called press conference to speak on the bid Wednesday.

susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com