Jason Scott 

(Bloomberg) -- Namoi Cotton Ltd. is urging its shareholders to reject a takeover bid from Louis Dreyfus Co., saying the agricultural trader’s latest offer for the cotton producer isn’t fair and reasonable. 

Louis Dreyfus and rival trader Olam Agri Holdings Ltd. have been jostling to buy the Australian producer since January. The latest higher offer from Olam, which valued Namoi at around A$144 million ($96 million), is being assessed by the Australian competition regulator, which is set to release its review by July 4.

The Louis Dreyfus offer of A$0.67 a share should be rejected because it was below Olam’s A$0.70 a share bid, Namoi said in a statement Wednesday. It urged shareholders to take no action in respect to the offer from Olam, which will deliver a “target statement in due course setting out Namoi’s formal response.”

Australia has 41 processing plants, known as gins, according to industry group Cotton Australia. Namoi has 10, while Olam Agri’s Queensland Cotton unit operates nine, including two joint ventures. Louis Dreyfus has three.