Finnlines board says Grimaldi offer ?too low?

Finnlines board says Grimaldi offer ôtoo lowö The board of Finnish shipping company Finnlines has recommended that shareholders reject the mandatory 17 euros ($22.02) per share offer from Italy's Grimaldi Group.
   Naples-based Grimaldi has gradually raised its stake in Finnlines to 50.1 percent and was obliged to make an unconditional mandatory offer for the remaining shares.
   'The board of directors of Finnlines considers the offer consideration to be too low, taking into account the company's new competitive capacity and strong position in the Baltic Sea's rapidly growing market area,' Finnlines’ board said in a statement to the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
   'The board ' estimates that the future operations conducted in accordance with the plans of the company could in the future produce a higher value to the shareholders than the offer consideration.
   'However, the board of directors cannot in any way guarantee that this or any other alternative will be realized and when realized would produce a higher value to the shareholders.'
   Finnlines' bosses also pointed out the Grimaldi offer was 2 percent below the company's Jan. 25 closing price, but added that with a majority stake, Grimaldi is now in a position to nominate a new board and resolve on the distributable amount of dividend, among other things.
   'The board of directors believes that the composition of the board ' and the top management of the company will change significantly. The board of directors has no information about the strategy or dividend policy of the new board of directors,' Finnlines' board said.