Sydney Airport has rejected a A$22.3bn (€14bn) takeover offer from 5 by a consortium led by IFM Investors.
Last week, the consortium, made up of QSuper, Global Infrastructure Partners and IFM infrastructure funds, offered to pay A$8.25 in cash for each security in Sydney Airport.
Sydney Airport said the indicative proposal undervalued Sydney Airport and was not in the best interests of securityholders.
“Sydney Airport is strongly positioned to deliver growth as vaccination rates increase and we move into the post-pandemic recovery period,” it said.
The Sydney Airport boards said they recognised that the security price was likely to trade below the consortium proposal’s indicative price in the short term.
“However, Sydney Airport will only progress a change-in-control transaction on terms that deliver and recognise appropriate long-term value for Sydney Airport securityholders.”
In response, the consortium, Sydney Aviation Alliance, said any assessment of Sydney Airport security prices before the pandemic was of limited relevance given the company’s materially changed circumstances and challenging outlook.
“This includes potentially significant reductions to demand arising from the pandemic, the introduction of a competitor airport in western Sydney in 2026, and changes in business and consumer travel preferences.”
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