Hammerson wins bid fight but faces shareholder ire

HAMMERSON has fought off a £5bn takeover bid from the French.

Klepierre, which runs more than 100 shopping centres across Europe, yesterday abandoned its pursuit of its British rival, whose estates includes the Bullring in Birmingham and Bicester Village in Oxfordshire.

The Paris-based firm raised the white flag after the Hammerson board rejected two offers – the first at 615p a share and the second at 635p a share.

It marked a major victory for Hammerson chairman David Tyler, who had insisted the price Klepierre was suggesting was ‘wholly inadequate’ and ‘entirely opportunistic’. But Hammerson shares tumbled 9pc, or 47p, to 473p as Klepierre ended its interest. The pressure is now on Hammerson to convince shareholders of the merits of its planned tie-up with British rival Intu, which owns 20 shopping centres including the Metro Centre in Gateshead and Lakeside in Thurrock.

APG, one of Hammerson’s biggest investors, last night said it would vote against the Intu deal. It added: ‘We believe the proposed acquisition will significantly dilute Hammerson’s high-quality portfolio.’

David Brockton, an analyst at Liberum, said: ‘The market has clearly taken a negative view of Hammerson’s acquisition of Intu. It will take some doing for the shares to achieve Klepierre’s 635p second proposal in the near-term.’