KKR-Led Group Raises Bid for Irish Energy Company DCC to $7.9 Billion

A group of investors led by KKR, a large American investment firm, has raised its offer to buy DCC, an Irish energy company. The new bid values DCC at about $7.9 billion. DCC delivers liquid gas, biofuels, and renewable energy to homes and businesses. The updated offer was announced on Thursday, July 16.

The new offer gives DCC shareholders £67.97 for every share they own. That breaks down into a base cash payment of £65.25 per share, plus a final dividend of £1.47 per share that was already part of an earlier offer. On top of that, shareholders could receive up to £1.25 extra per share, depending on how much money is made from selling DCC's technology unit, called Nexora.

KKR is working with another firm called Energy Capital Partners. Together, they form what is called a consortium, which is a group of companies joining forces for a common goal. The consortium has finished its due diligence, meaning it has carefully studied DCC's business to make sure everything checks out. The two sides have also mostly agreed on the paperwork needed to close the deal.

DCC has not yet said whether it will support the new, higher offer. However, the Irish Takeover Panel, which oversees big business deals in Ireland, gave the consortium more time. The deadline for the group to either make a firm offer or walk away has been moved to July 27.

This is not the first time the consortium has tried to buy DCC. Back in April, DCC rejected the group's first offer of £4.95 billion, saying that price was too low. The consortium came back in June with a better offer of £66.72 per share. DCC seemed ready to recommend that offer to its shareholders, but then two of DCC's biggest investors pushed back.

Those two investors are Aviva Investors and Fidelity International. They opposed the June deal, according to a report by Bloomberg News. Neither company responded to questions about the latest, even higher offer. The precise details of the Nexora technology sale bonus have not yet been agreed upon by both sides.

Despite the back-and-forth, things are looking up for DCC's stock price. Its shares had already climbed more than 7% since KKR first came knocking in April. On Thursday, shares were up another 1%, trading at £63.50. In a separate update, DCC also said its operating profit for the first quarter of the year was better than last year and on track with what was expected.