Nippon Sheet Glass Co (NSG), the world's sixth-largest sheet glass maker, has renewed its takeover bid for Pilkington Plc, UK Sunday newspaper The Observer reported in its online edition on 19 February 2006, citing sources close to the deal. The report said the new bid involves the purchase of Pilkington shares at £1.65 each for a total of £2.2BN. The two companies are likely to agree on the deal by the end of the month, it said. NSG first approached Pilkington in October 2005, with an offer of £1.50/share, but was rejected. An approach at £1.58 the following month was also deemed unacceptable. The NSG stake in Pilkington currently stands at about 20%. The newspaper said the ability of NSG to fund the deal has come under question as the Japanese firm plans to raise £570M in debt to finance the stock it does not already own.
