UK industrial REIT LondonMetric has made a successful bid for the largest real estate investment trust in the UK Midlands, A&J Mucklow, for a cash and stock deal valuing the firm at £414.7 mln (€470 mln).
The deal prices Mucklow's shares at 655.2 pence each, a 19.6% premium to the company's close on Wednesday, a value which Mucklow directors described as 'fair and reasonable'.
Mucklow's 3.8 million ft2 (350,000 m2) commercial property portfolio is concentrated in the West Midlands with a primary focus on industrial assets, as well as some office and retail holdings.
Mucklow's board said it intended to unanimously recommend the takeover to shareholders, who stand to receive 2.19 new LondonMetric shares and 204.5 pence in cash per Mucklow share. Members of the Mucklow family, who together own around 19.3% of the business, were said to also back the deal.
Other significant Mucklow shareholders in favour, according to LondonMetric, include Unicorn Asset Management, TR Property Investment Trust and Wesleyan Assurance Society.
LondonMetric was advised by Peel Hunt and JP Morgan Cazenove, while Numis Securities advised Mucklow on financial matters.
