Today’s put up or shut up deadlines for takeovers of DTZ, MWB Business Exchange and Invista left the market with no consolidations as deals either fizzled out or were left open.
The day began with Saint Georges Participations, the investment vehicle of DTZ majority shareholder the Mathy family, saying it was no longer considering a bid for the agent at this time, due to the economic uncertainty in the eurozone.
DTZ shares fell by 16% to 23p immediately following the news. They have since recovered slightly to 23.5p per share.
The agent’s interim chief executive John Forrester said that the collapse of the talks would not lead to a break up of DTZ.
Next up was Picton Property Income, which requested further time from the panel to finalise terms for its £426m merger with Invista Foundation Property Trust. It now has until 31 October to make its bid, or walk away.
Shares in Invista Foundation Property Trust have lost 50p – or 1.5% – following the extension news and are sitting at 34.75p a share.
And MWB Business Exchange has also been given an extension so that it can consider a potential £52m takeover bid form one of its shareholders MWB Group.
It said that the extension was sought to “allow the independent directors of Business Exchange more time to seek clarification on certain aspects of MWB’s proposals, to further consider the merits of the proposed offer in light of recent developments and, subject to the constraints imposed by the code, to consult with Business Exchange minority shareholders”.
The takeover is being opposed by the serviced office group’s largest independent shareholder Pyrrho.
samantha.mcclary@estatesgazette.com
