The vast majority of shareholders in UK property developer Minerva have accepted a cash offer from a consortium led by Delancey and Area Property Partners in a deal which values the debt-laden company at about £203 mln (EUR 233 mln).
The vast majority of shareholders in UK property developer Minerva have accepted a cash offer from a consortium led by Delancey and Area Property Partners in a deal which values the debt-laden company at about £203 mln (EUR 233 mln).
The consortium has reached agreement with 91% of shareholders in the London-listed group, according to Jupiter Properties, a special-purpose vehicle backed by the consortium. Minerva will delist from the London stock exchange on closing of the offer.
At end-June the company said it had reached agreement with the consortium on the terms of the recommended cash offer, under which shareholders would receive 120.5 pence in cash for each share. The offer price represents a 53.5% premium to the closing price of 78.5 pence per Minerva share on 13 January 2011, the last business day prior to the offer period.
Minerva has city office, high-end residential and mixed-use development projects in the Greater London area. Its portfolio was valued at £1.2 bn at year-end 2010.
The Jupiter Properties offer is the third takeover bid for Minerva in recent years. Limitless, the development arm of Dubai World, pulled the plug on an unsolicited bid for the company in September 2008, and the following year Minerva's board rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from Kifin, a company controlled by South African businessman Nathan Kirsh.
Delancey is a property investment company run by Jamie Ritblat, son of John Ritblat, former executive chairman of British Land. Supported by Royal Bank of Scotland, Jamie Ritblat took Delancey private in 2001 for 2001 for £264 mln.
New York-based Area is a global real estate fund manager that has invested over $11 bn in more than 500 transactions with a total value of $50 bn since 1993.
