P.M. BRIEFING : Goldsmith Wins Extension to Meet U.S. Challenge to His Bid for B.A.T.
British regulators today gave Anglo-French financier Sir James Goldsmith more time to meet a U.S. regulatory challenge to his hostile bid for tobacco and financial services giant B.A.T. Industries PLC.
Goldsmith had asked Britain’s Takeover Panel to let the $21-billion offer lapse to give him time to overcome U.S. hurdles and make a fresh bid within the next year.
His Hoylake Investments Ltd., formed to bid for B.A.T., had challenged the constitutionality of a California insurance commission review of its takeover attempt.
B.A.T. last year acquired U.S. insurance company Farmers Group Inc., so regulatory approval is required by insurance commissioners in the nine U.S. states in which Farmers operates. Goldsmith has said he plans to sell Farmers if the bid succeeds.
In the United States, B.A.T. also owns Brown and Williamson tobacco, makers of Kool cigarettes, and theSaks Fifth Avenue and Marshall Field department stores.
Its British interests include Benson and Hedges tobacco, Eagle Star insurance company and pulp and paper manufacturer Wiggins Teape.
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