McCormick Ends Pursuit of Premier Foods

LONDON—U. S. spice and herb company McCormick and Co. Inc. has walked away from making an offer for British food manufacturer Premier Foods PLC.

The Maryland-based company said Wednesday that, having completed due diligence on Premier Foods, it wouldn't be able to propose an offer price recommended by Premier Foods and deliver appropriate returns for McCormick shareholders.

The British company, owner of the Mr. Kipling cake and OXO stock cube brands, on March 30 rejected McCormick's latest offer proposal, worth 65 pence a share, or around 537 million pounds ($763 million) in total, saying it undervalued Premier.

In a separate statement on Wednesday, Premier Foods said it sees a strong future as an independent company and believes that the foundations have been laid for significant growth and shareholder value creation.

Write to Tapan Panchal at Tapan.Panchal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 13, 2016 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT)

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