Rival enters fray for Australia's Treasury Wine Estates

Australia's Treasury Wine Estates said Monday that a second private equity firm had approached it with a takeover proposal, after US group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) upped its bid.

KKR last week increased its offer to acquire all Treasury shares by 10.6 percent to Aus$5.20 per share, valuing the company at Aus$3.38 billion (US$3.14 billion).
Treasury said Monday that a new competitor, which had requested its identity remain confidential for now, had matched that offer in an indicative, non-binding proposal.
"The board of TWE has concluded that it is in the interests of its shareholders to engage further with this private equity investor," Treasury said in a statement.
"Therefore, subject to the negotiation of an appropriate confidentiality agreement, it will also be granted the opportunity to conduct non-exclusive due diligence."
Treasury, which has 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) of vineyards and sales of 32 million cases of wine annually, said there was no certainty that either proposal would result in an offer for the firm.
Treasury's key products in Australia include the Lindeman's, Wolf Blass and Rosemount brands and the Beringer and Chateau St Jean labels in the United States.
Its shares were trading at Aus$5.25 mid-morning Monday.