{"id":18470,"date":"2025-01-15T07:50:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T07:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/south-west\/?p=18470"},"modified":"2025-01-15T10:35:23","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T10:35:23","slug":"shareholder-complaints-lead-to-increased-bid-for-loungers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/south-west\/news\/18470-shareholder-complaints-lead-to-increased-bid-for-loungers","title":{"rendered":"Shareholder complaints lead to increased bid for Loungers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The investment group seeking to buy hospitality company Loungers has increased its bid to \u00a3354m in response to shareholder pushback on the original offer.<\/p>\n

Fortress Investment Group had agreed a 310p-per-share deal in November<\/a> for the Bristol-based caf\u00e9 and restaurant chain and has now upped its offer to 325p, which it insisted is its final offer.<\/p>\n

Larger shareholders, including Slater Investments, Axa Investment Management, Gresham House, and Downing Fund Managers had been unhappy with the original bid, feeling it undervalued the business.<\/p>\n

Loungers chairman Alex Reilley and chief executive Nick Collins have said they “would find their positions untenable” if the deal was blocked by shareholders.<\/p>\n

The company has warned they “have little confidence that the stock market outlook for quoted consumer stocks will improve markedly in the foreseeable future” and expect it be a “challenging year” for British consumers, leaving hospitality businesses potentially exposed.<\/p>\n

Reilley said: “We are very pleased that Fortress has decided to increase its offer, making it even more compelling for Loungers shareholders and reinforcing the Loungers directors’ recommendation that they should vote in favour of the acquisition.”<\/p>\n

Domnall Tait, managing director of Fortress said: “This increased offer for Loungers reflects our continued belief in the business and its management team, and we look forward to supporting them through the next stage of growth. Notwithstanding the recent challenges, Fortress remains a strong believer in the UK.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Investment group ups offer above \u00a3350m <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":15436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,127686,120781],"coauthors":[81],"class_list":["post-18470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deals","category-hospitality","category-markets","tag-bristol-and-bath","tag-featured-story","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\nShareholder complaints lead to increased bid for Loungers - South West<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/south-west\/news\/18470-shareholder-complaints-lead-to-increased-bid-for-loungers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shareholder complaints lead to increased bid for Loungers - 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