Owner of Highcross shopping centre turns down £5bn takeover bid

The Highcross in Leicester

European real estate trust company Klépierre has confirmed that its proposed acquisition of Hammerson, the owners of the Highcross shopping centre in Leeds, was rejected in just 24 hours.

The French company, which specialises in shopping centres, now has until 16 April to make a firm intention to acquire Hammerson, which has recently bid for intu, or to confirm it will not make a counter offer.

Hammerson owns a host of UK shopping centres including the Bullring in Birmingham. The company announced in December that it was to buy rival Intu, which owns malls in Derby and Nottingham – creating a £21bn company.

Klépierre said that on 8 March, it had made a proposal on a non-adversarial basis to the Board of Hammerson with the intention of “engaging in a constructive dialogue” regarding a possible offer to acquire the share capital of Hammerson. The bid value stands at £5bn.

The proposal represented a premium of 40.7% to the closing price of 437.10 pence per Hammerson ordinary share on 16 March 2018, and the consideration would comprise a combination of cash and shares in Klépierre.

The Board of Hammerson rejected the proposal in less than 24 hours on 9 March.

Meanwhile, in a statement, intu said: “intu notes the response by Hammerson today in relation to an announcement by Klépierre. No action is required and intu will update shareholders if and when appropriate.”

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