LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Döhler said on Tuesday that it has increased its stake in extracts and ingredients specialist Treatt to 10.02% from just under 3%.
The German food and beverage ingredients company said it has bought just over 4.18m shares in Treatt.

"Döhler views Treatt as a high-quality company and recognises its strong position in the natural extracts and flavours market," it said. "Döhler is supportive of the strategy outlined by Treatt and looks forward to building a constructive dialogue with the Döhler executive management team. Döhler intends to hold its shares in Treatt for investment purposes."

Döhler confirmed it was not considering an offer for Treatt, which agreed earlier this month to be taken over by Natara in a £156.6m deal.

Russ Mould, investment strategist at AJ Bell, said: "There are some strange goings-on in the ingredients sector. Three weeks after Treatt agreed a takeover offer from sector peer Natara, another industry player has muddied the water.

"Dohler has increased its stake from c.3% to 10% of Treatt. Normally, such a situation would be a precursor to making a counterbid, yet Dohler says it is not considering a takeover offer. Instead, Dohler sees the stake as an investment.

"Natara has offered 260p cash per share and Treatt's shares closed last night at 270.5p, implying that Dohler is not playing a simple game of arbitrage and buying below the take-out price to make a quick buck.

"If Natara's bid is successful, Dohler will be bought out with a cash payment. That makes the latest stake-building suspicious. Dohler might be taking a bet that Natara's bid isn't enough to win over shareholders and that securing a 10% stake puts it in prime position to work closely with Treatt should it remain independent."

At 1015 BST, Treatt shares were down 1.1% at 267.50p.

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