Klépierre takeover bid for Corio declared ‘unconditional’

French REIT Klepierre’s takeover bid for Corio has been declared unconditional after 84% of the shares in the Dutch retail specialist were tendered by the 8 January deadline, the two companies announced on Friday.

The tender result means the takeover, which was first announced in July 2014, can now go ahead as planned. The tie-up will create the second-largest listed retail company in Europe with gross assets of over €21 bn. Market leader Unibail-Rodamco has €26.8 bn of shopping centre assets.

The tender percentage of 84% falls short of the 95% needed to delist Corio from the Amsterdam stock exchange. To achieve this, Klepierre and Corio have extended the acceptance period by a week from 12 January to 16 January in the hope that more shareholders will tender their shares.

Corio shareholders who have accepted the offer will receive 1.14 new Klépierre shares for every share tendered. Klépierre’s existing shares, currently listed on Euronext Paris, and the new shares, will be admitted to listing and trading on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Paris by 15 January.

‘We are very pleased that our offer on Corio has had such outstanding success, with shares tendered in the offer reaching 84.07% of total share capital, demonstrating the strong support of Corio shareholders for this transaction,’ said Klépierre CEO Laurent Morel.

He added: ‘Klépierre will become the leading pan-European pure player in the retail property business. We already have a clearly defined roadmap and are ready to execute the integration process, which will entail uniting both teams and leveraging their combined talents across continental Europe.’