Macfarlane's take-over tussle for British Polythene Industries has turned nasty with a blunt snub from BPI, which continues to cut costs and is closing a 60-staff firm.


BPI chairman Cameron McLatchie condemned last month's "bargain-basement offer" of 92.3m. Macfarlane was "trying to short change our shareholders", he said.


The board's unanimous rejection was set out in a 31pp document. "Your shares are worth far more than 250p," it said. BPI wants 390p to 400p.


"Don't sell yourself short by allowing Macfarlane to get away with this derisory offer," the document ended.


McLatchie said BPI was selling, merging or closing loss-makers to wipe out operating losses. These amounted to 6m in 1999.


Brighton's Flexer Sacks is due to close and talks are ongoing with staff who make heavy-duty polythene bags, said a spokesman.


"It is not a knee-jerk reaction to the bid but part of the restructuring," he said.


BPI was making 10m cost savings, cutting its annual cost base by 5.1m.


This week's rejection paper gunned down the hostile bid with five bullet points. It claimed the bid:
- fundamentally undervalues BPI
- discounts BPI's scale and market-leading positions
- is highly opportunistic
- ignores the benefits of actions by BPI to eliminate loss-making businesses
- ignores the benefits of actions already taken by BPI to reduce costs.


Story by Jeremy Allen