UK multi-let warehouse specialist Industrials REIT has announced that it has agreed to a potential takeover by US giant Blackstone in the wake of lengthy negotiations.
The Blackstone bid is understood to value the company at around £700 mln (€800 mln) including debt. Industrials' equity valuation stands at £498.7 mln.
Industrials, which holds some 1,270 industrial units across the UK, including Scotland and Wales, generates an annual gross rental income of £12 mln. It said in a statement that it would recommend the mooted offer to its shareholders.
The firm manages its portfolio through its operating platform, Industrials Hive, which leases units with a full service option. It said that 'more than half our customers have never signed an industrial lease before and are very wary of the risks and drawbacks'.
According to Industrials, the final offer for the firm prices each share at 168 pence, a premium of 42% to the closing price of 118.0 pence on Friday. The offer is 41% above its one-month weighted average price of 119.5 pence.
The firm said that the offer announcement should be finalised by this Friday, and no later than May 1, according to agreements between the two companies and UK merger and acquisition rules.
