Minerva confirms £194m cash offer

London-listed property company Minerva has announced details of a possible 120.5 pence in cash takeover offer from a consortium of funds advised by Area Property Partners and a subsidiary of DV4 Limited, which is advised by Delancey Real Estate Asset Management.

The offer price represents a 21.4% premium to the closing share price of Minerva on 25 May 25.

In a statement on Thursday, Minerva said the bid would be launched through a special purpose vehicle, Jupiter Properties 2011 UK, upon satisfaction of a number of pre-conditions by 7 July.

Jupiter is a 50-50 joint venture between Saturn Properties, a subsidiary of funds advised by Area, and Newincco, a subsidiary of funds advised by Delancey.

'There can be no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made, even if the pre-conditions are satisfied or waived,' Minerva added.

Last week, the company confirmed that it was in 'advanced discussions' with a number of parties regarding a possible takeover of its £1 bn struggling development business. The company has a debt load of over £800 mln with five banks - Deutsche Postbank, HSH Nordbank, Nationwide, Lloyds Banking Group and Landesbank Berlin.

Pre-conditions for making the offer include the receipt by the potential buyers of signed documentation which amends certain of the Minerva group's existing debt facilities as well as a confirmation that the company board intends to provide its unanimous and unconditional recommendation to its shareholders to accept the offer.

Area is a global real estate private equity fund manager with over $11 bn of equity under management.

Delancey, a specialist real estate investment adviser and asset manager, is the exclusive adviser to DV4 Limited, a long term real estate investment fund established in 2007 with over £1 bn of equity capital.