Will Barilla raise Kamps bid?

Italian pasta maker Barilla said it would consider raising its 12 euros per share bid for Europe's leading baker Kamps, should a rival bidder emerge, a German newspaper reported on Saturday.

``When someone really made a higher offer for Kamps, we would consider our reaction,''​ Chairman Guido Barilla told Sunday's Welt am Sonntag, according to a statement released on Saturday.

Kamps management has rejected the offer, a rare hostile takeover attempt in the consensus-driven German corporate world, as too low.

Until now Barilla has ruled out raising its offer and the Chairman has even said he would drop the bid if a "white knight''​ were to make a better offer.

Chairman Guido Barilla reiterated that he saw the offer price as good for Kamps. The pasta firm said the bid values Kamps, which is 15 per cent management-owned, at over nine times 2001 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

In a preview of Focus magazine, Guido Barilla quelled speculation it would sell off the German bakery, should the takeover succeed.

"Certainly not. Instead we are particularly interested in the store as we do not have a branch network yet,''​ the head of Barilla said.

Major institutional shareholders in Kamps have said they would accept the €1.76 billion takeover bid. Analysts have said Sara Lee Corp, a Chicago-based consumer products giant whose worldwide baking business has annual sales of around $3.3 billion, could make a bid for Kamps. Sara Lee has declined to comment.

But some market watchers said a bid by Sara Lee was at most an outside chance, saying the speculation was favourable to Kamps as it put pressure on Barilla to raise its offer.