DP Eurasia N.V. (LSE:DPEU), which runs the Domino’s Pizza franchise in the Middle East, said it has the backing of some major shareholders in finding the unsolicited bid from Indian subcontinent franchisee Jubilant Foodworks "fundamentally undervalues" the company.
Last Tuesday, Jubilant Foodworks Netherlands, which is part of Jubilant Foodworks, which again is part of the giant conglomerate Jubilant Bhartia, made an offer of 85p per share for DP Eurasia and the same day raised its stake to 50.0% in the company.
DP Eurasia's board said it was "extremely disappointed" and said Jubilant was proceeding in an "unsolicited and opportunistic way".
Since then, the Jubilant stake has risen to 54.67%.
Today, DP Eurasia said it has "worked openly and constructively" with Jubilant but "remains extremely disappointed" in the unsolicited nature of the offer.
Its board and advisors believe the terms of the offer "fundamentally undervalue the company and its prospects" and a "significant proportion" of shareholders have also indicated they are "overwhelmingly of the opinion that the Jubilant proposal fundamentally undervalues the company".
The shares fell below 40p in March, not far off pandemic lows, and for most of the summer were below 50p, but have been on the up since interim results in September. Today, they fell 1% to 85p, having risen as high as 88p yesterday.