Corporate raider Carl Icahn has upped the stakes in his fight for Nabisco, producers of Oreo biscuits and Ritz crackers, with regulatory filings in the US showing he has offered to pay $22 (£13) per share.
Mr Icahn, who has been stalking the company, formerly known as RJR Nabisco, for several years, is thought to have pitched earlier deals in the region of $16 per share, valuing the company at $5.2bn.
His assault is on Nabisco Group Holdings, which owns 90% of the snack food maker Nabisco Holdings Corp, its only asset. Mr Icahn, who earned his status as a corporate raider during a series of battles in the 1980s, owns 9.6% of Nabisco Group Holdings, which put itself up for sale last month after he made an unwanted bid for company.
Nabisco is thought to have set a deadline of Monday for bids, which would explain the timing of yesterday's submission contained a filing to the securities and exchange commission in the US. The group has not confirmed that is has set a deadline for bidders.
One of the potential deterrents for bidders is the risk of tobacco litigants in the US against the RJ Reynolds tobacco group which Nabisco Group Holdings used to own.
According to the filings, Mr Icahn and his shareholder group, High River, would give shareholders $19 in cash and a two-year note with a principal amount of $3 for each Nabisco Group Holding shares.
News of the offer helped to buoy shares in both Nabisco companies on the New York stock exchange in early trading.
Meanwhile, the war for loyal customers among Britain's supermarkets took another twist yesterday when Tesco tried to lure any defections from Safeway with the promise of 250 points when they sign up for its loyalty card.
The move follows Safeway's decision to ditch its loyalty card in favour of a lower price promotion. Tesco said more than 65,000 customers had signed up for its Club Card since Safeway's decision last week. Sainsbury is also trying to win Safeway customers with deals on its loyalty card.
