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Reuters
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A man walks in the fruit and vegetables section at a Coles supermarket (main Wesfarmers brand) in Sydney, Australia, February 20, 2018. Picture taken February 20, 2018.
MELBOURNE, July 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Wesfarmers (WES.AX) has made a surprise pounce for a chain of pharmacy and beauty stores. At A$687 million ($514 million), the unsolicited offer for Australian Pharmaceuticals Industries (API.AX) equates to barely 1% of the retail, chemicals and energy conglomerateâs market value. But itâs a handy way for Chief Executive Rob Scott to take the M&A temperature of his shareholders.
He has spent much of his four years in charge of Wesfarmers reducing sprawl by spinning off the Coles supermarket chain, selling a coal mine and overhauling brands like Target and Kmart (neither are related to the U.S. outlets). The companyâs enterprise now trades at 14 times forward EBITDA, up from just 9 times three years ago. Debt is lower and the company