Peel Group makes £583m bid for Harworth, shares surge.
Harworth surged on Thursday after Peel Group made a £582.9m takeover offer for the land and property firm.
Source: Sharecast
Under the terms of the offer, Peel Group would pay 172.5p per share in cash, which is a premium of 20.1% to the closing share price on Wednesday. It’s a 36% premium to the three month volume-weighted average share price.
Peel Group is a long-term investor in Harworth, which owns and manages a portfolio of assets predominantly comprising modern industrial and logistics investment properties and strategic land holdings, located in the North of England and the Midlands.
Peel Group, which already owns just under 30% of Harworth’s shares, said the company’s assets would be best owned, managed and developed under its full control. It said the offer represents "a compelling opportunity" for Harworth shareholders to realise full liquidity for their shareholding at fair value.
Peel Group is majority-owned by Manchester billionaire John Whittaker.
For its part, Harworth said it had had "no substantive engagement with Peel Group about any offer before their announcement today".
"The board is reviewing the terms of the offer with its advisers and a further announcement will be made as appropriate," it said. "In the meantime, shareholders are strongly advised to take no action."
At 1040 BST, Harworth shares were up 20.5% at 173.0p.
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