Reuters first with news of higher Boparan bid for Northern Foods

Reuters landed a scoop on Jan 21 with news that businessman Ranjit Boparan was about to launch a bid for British food manufacturer Northern Foods at a premium to the company`s closing share price and the offer on the table from rival bidder Greencore. Reuters reported that Boparan was close to making an offer significantly higher than the closing price of 63 pence but short of the 75 pence per share offer which some analysts had mooted. The two parties announced an agreed offer of 73 pence from Boparan in a joint statement three hours after the Reuters story. Bloomberg and Dow Jones failed to match Reuters and were unable to shed light upon the story until the official statement appeared. Shares in Northern Foods were up 17 percent when the stock market re-opened on Monday morning. Reuters also kept clients ahead of the curve earlier on Friday reporting that Boparan had reached a deal with Northern Foods pension trustees over future payments into the scheme — a factor that had been seen as a possible dealbreaker — and knocking down an earlier report by the Times newspaper.