Deadline day for Greene King on £723m Spirit takeover
PUBCO Greene King has been given a 5pm deadline today to say whether it will go ahead with plans to acquire the interests of Staffordshire rival Spirit Pub Co in a deal which values the Burton-upon-Trent business at more than £723m.
In a market update, Spirit said it remained in talks with Greene King regarding the terms of the offer and the board was still to recommend the proposal be accepted, although the deal remains subject to the satisfactory resolution of other terms.
In accordance with takeover rules, Greene King has until 5pm today to say whether it intends to make an offer for Spirit or that it does not intend to go ahead with the deal.
The deadline can be extended with the consent of the Takeover Panel, at Spirit’s request, should talks reach a critical stage.
The revised offer as submitted earlier this month comprises 0.1322 Greene King shares per Spirit share and a cash payment of 8p per share (including any 2014 final dividend) representing a value of approximately 109.5p per Spirit share based on the closing price of Greene King shares on October 17, 2014.
Under the revised proposal, Spirit shareholders would own approximately 29% of the combined new Greene King.
The new offer remains conditional on, amongst other things, due diligence being completed and the support of the Spirit board.
Spirit, a spin-off from Punch Taverns, had rejected the earlier offer of £661m saying it under-valued the business.
