Graincorp reaffirms support for ADM bid

Graincorp Ltd's independent expert has signed off on the sweetened $3.4 billion takeover offer by US agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland, with the board telling investors to back it unless a better offer emerges.

Independent expert Grant Samuel said that while a higher alternative offer was possible it was "relatively unlikely".

"It would be imprudent for shareholders to reject the ADM Offer in anticipation of a higher offer from (subsidiary) ADM Australia or a third party,” Grant Samuel said.

ADM's $13.20 per share offer fell within Grant Samuel's valuation range of $12.74 to $13.97 per share.

In its target statement, released to the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday, GrainCorp's board said that if the offer fell through and no superior proposal emerged, the group's share price would fall in the near term.

Investors were also being offered "the certainty of cash" for their GrainCorp shares at a 49% premium to the stock's trading price before ADM's first proposal last October, the board said.

In addition, shareholders who could capture the full benefit from franking on the permitted dividends would receive additional value of up to 43 cents per share.

The bid is subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and foreign regulatory authorities in Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, South Africa and South Korea.

The ADM offer closes on 31 August.