Malls tycoon puts £2.9bn price on Lakeside owner
INTU Properties today agreed to open its books to a consortium led by property tycoon John Whittaker, after the suitor made an improved £2.9 billion approach for the shopping centres owner.
The Lakeside owner, which was humiliated this year when Hammerson ditched a £3.4 billion swoop for the business, revealed it received an indicative 205p-per-share proposal on October 11.
This was raised to 215p per share on Wednesday.
The proposal is from Peel Group, owned by Intu’s deputy chairman Whittaker, Saudi Arabian investor Olayan and Canada’s Brookfield.
Whittaker and the investors, who collectively already own 29.9% of FTSE 250 firm Intu, first revealed they were weighing a bid in early October.
Today is the first time any potential takeover figures have been released. The consideration will be reduced by any dividends declared or paid by Intu prior to completion.
Shares in Intu, which employs 2600 staff in the UK, increased 19.63p, or more than 11%, to 197.33p.
The update comes a day after Intu boasted about a string of new retail lettings, and ahead of a November 1 dead- line for the consortium formal offer or walk away.
The latest proposal comes after a tumultuous year for Intu. It is grappling with weaker consumer confidence and competition from online shopping websites.
Intu had hoped for a tie-up with larger rival Hammerson to create a megaretail property company to take on online competition. However, Hammerson ditched the deal in April, after
to make a its board wilted in the face of shareholders’ protests.
Numis analyst Robbie Duncan said the latest proposal is around 10% higher than he expected. He added: “We believe the chances of success are high, given the travails facing Intu as well as the special nature of the bidders.”
Duncan said: “We would be surprised if the consortium were to sweeten the deal further.”