Mill Road Raises Bid for Cossette

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s largest home-grown advertising company, Cossette Inc (KOS.TO), said on Monday that U.S. private equity group Mill Road Capital has sweetened its all-cash takeover bid for the company.

Cossette’s board has accepted the amended proposal, which values the company at C$8.10 a share, or C$135.3 million ($128 million).

Cossette’s management reaffirmed support for Mill Road’s offer and have asked shareholders to reject a competing takeover bid from Canada’s Cosmos Capital, which matched Mill Road’s original offer worth C$7.87 a share.

Earlier this month, Mill Road reached an agreement with Cossette to acquire the company for C$7.87 a share, trumping an unsolicited bid from Canada’s Cosmos Capital worth C$5.25 a share.

Cosmos recently said it would match Mill Road’s C$7.87 a share offer, adding that it may even consider raising its bid to C$8.10 a share. [ID:nN18504712]

However, Cossette said it continues to favor the Mill Road offer as it is is not subject to due diligence, while Cosmos’s bid is subject to a due diligence process. ($1=$1.06 Canadian) (Reporting by Euan Rocha; editing by Peter Galloway)