Range Cooker receives second takeover approach

The chairman and chief executive of The Range Cooker Company yesterday informed the Stock Exchange and shareholders that he has been working part-time for several months due to illness, at a time when the company was in takeover talks.

John Armstrong, who holds a 68 per cent stake in Range, said in a statement: "I have been unwell during recent months and have relied upon the rest of your board to oversee and pursue the company's strategy."

Range Cooker, which has been talking about a management buyout by a group of directors since February, also announced that it has received another approach.

The company said it would continue to talk to both parties as the period of exclusivity had ended on the first offer. Its shares added 1p to 19.25p.

The first offer was from Robin Russell and other directors, which was backed by the venture capitalist Graphite Capital Management. Mr Russell offered 20p a share, valuing the company at £31.8m.

City observers said the new offer may have come from Range's arch rival Aga Foodservice. Aga would not comment, but it is believed to have been eyeing Range's business because it thinks the company would fit well with its own.

Range Cooker's main cooker range is branded Britannia. It sells stoves costing between £1,200 and £35,000, mainly to independent retailers.

Range Cooker said it "remained positive" that discussions with Mr Russell and the directors would "continue to make good progress".

Range said that if it invited the company behind the new offer to carry out due diligence and then did not take up any resulting offer, Range would reimburse costs up to £350,000. The company updated the market on its bid situation as it issued full-year results to 30 April.

Range Cooker said pre-tax profits rose to £4.4m from £3.6m a year earlier, slightly ahead of market expectations, on a 14 per cent increase in turnover to £15.4m against £13.5m before.

The company said there was no dividend due to the ongoing takeover talks. It added that if both lots of talks fell through, the board would consider recommending a special dividend.