French shopping centre owner Klépierre has pulled out of making a formal bid for British rival Hammerson, despite sweetening its offer earlier this week.
Klépierre, which owns malls in 57 cities and 16 countries, had increased its bid to 635p a share – up from 615p offered last month – valuing Hammerson at just over £5bn (€5.7bn).
However, the British owner of Birmingham’s Bullring shopping complex said the increased bid only represented “a marginal increase to Klépierre’s unsolicited proposal of 615p” made last month, which the board had rejected unanimously.
The move by Klépierre came at a time when Hammerson was planning to finalise a £3.4bn tie-up with Intu Properties.
This led Hammerson to say it would delay the Intu deal until the final shape of Klépierre’s offer emerges.
In a statement on Friday, Klépierre said it felt that Hammerson’s board “did not provide any meaningful engagement with respect to the increased proposal and, after careful consideration, Klépierre has concluded that it does not intend to make an offer for Hammerson.”
Klépierre, which has a property portfolio valued at almost €23bn at the end of December 2016, said it reserved the right to revisit the deal should Hammerson’s board change its mind, or in the event of a third-party bid.
In response, Hammerson’s chairman David Tyler, said: “The board is confident in the intrinsic value of Hammerson and its prospects. It is entirely focused on delivering value for shareholders in the shorter and longer term.”
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