Cargill considers solo bid for animal feed company

Cargill Inc. is considering making a solo bid for a big Dutch animal feed company after an earlier joint offer was rejected.

Nutreco NV is already entertaining a $3.7 billion bid from SHV Holdings, another Dutch firm that made its initial offer in October. Last month, Cargill and private equity firm Permira Advisers made a joint bid that would have divided Nutreco into two separate companies. Nutreco shot down the split-up strategy.

Minnetonka-based Cargill, one of the world's largest privately held companies, said Thursday it remains interested in pursuing Nutreco.

"After extensive study, we decided to continue on a stand-alone basis, and consider an offer for the whole of Nutreco," Cargill said in a statement.

Cargill, a big player in the global animal feed business, said it has asked Nutreco to provide access to due diligence information.

But because Cargill hasn't mentioned any price and has no offer on the table, Nutreco might not open its books, Bloomberg News reported. "Unless Cargill discloses its intended offer price and more details on their takeover proposition, their offer could go hostile very quickly," CM-CIC Securities told Bloomberg.