Intu takeover deadline extended

THE deadline for a £2.8 billion takeover of Merry Hill shopping centre owner Intu has been extended again until tomorrow (Friday).

The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers was granted an eightday extension to a consortium of investors to either table a firm bid for Intu or withdraw from the process.

They now have until 5pm on November 30 to make that offer.

The consortium, comprising Peel Group, the Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group, announced on October 4 that it was in the preliminary stages of considering a possible cash offer for Intu and had been given a deadline of November 1.

This was then extended November 15, and again November 22.

A statement posted to the stock exchange said: “The consortium has confirmed to Intu that its legal, tax, accounting and commercial due diligence is now largely complete and it has made substantial progress on the financing of the possible offer.

“The consortium has also confirmed that nothing has arisen from these due diligence workstreams which would lead to to it to alter the terms indicative proposal of 17.

“In response to a request from the consortium for an extension to the deadline to enable continued discussions and provide the consortium sufficient time to complete the financing process, the Independent Committee requested that the panel extends the deadline.”

Peel Group’s activities are focussed mainly on property and development in Greater Manchester and Merseyside. The firm built and ran the Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester, which is one of the UK’s largest shopping centres, of their October before known Centres, lion.

At that time, it was the largest property deal in British history and gave Peel a stake of 23 per cent in Capital Shopping Centres which was rebranded as Intu in 2013. Intu was the subject of a £3.4 billion takeover bid by Hammerson, which co-owns Bullring and Grand Central in central Birmingham, earlier this year but this was eventually dropped. Olayan Group is a international investor based in the Middle East and Brookfield Property Group is an asset manager headquartered in Canada. selling it to Intu, then as Capital Shopping in 2011 for £1.6 bil-