BPB makes defence against hostile bid

UK plasterboard maker BPB today said that it had posted a document to shareholders setting out a detailed response to the £3.6bn hostile takeover from French materials giant Saint-Goban.

BPB continued its fight to retain independence by sending out the document, entitled ‘Saint-Gobain has fundamentally undervalued BPB,’ urging shareholders to reject the offer.

In a further bid to show shareholders that the company was already in a strong financial position, BPB raised its forecast for the year to March 2006, stating that underlying pre-tax profit would rise by 24% to not less than £350m.

Analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein estimated that BPB has a 40-50% chance of remaining independent.