Brookfield Asset Management has decided not to make a bid for serviced-office group IWG.
The Canadian investor, which was bidding with private equity group Onex Corporation, had two offers for the UK-listed group, which valued it at £2.5bn, rejected.
IWG said it remained “highly confident in the prospects” of the group and that it had “an exciting future as an independent company”.
Brookfield and Onex first made an all-cash offer for the group, which owns the Regus brand, in December last year. That offer came after months of speculation about a takeover of IWG, which operates about 3,000 locations in 100 countries.
IWG, which in November had to revise down its group operating profit predictions because of a weaker-than-expected performance in the UK, today said that the final three months of 2017 had seen an improvement in trading and that results for the year were now in line with expectations.
Revenue growth for its open centres (excluding closed centres) increased from 4.4% in the third quarter to 7.5% in Q4. Growth in total group revenues (including closed centres) accelerated from 2.5% in Q3 to 5.9% Q4.
IWG said the revenue growth was driven by all regions except for the UK, where revenues stabilised.
The group said it was “excited about the prospects for IWG, given its leading position in the fast-growing workspace-as-a-service sector”.
“Our industry is becoming more mainstream, with major global trends driving long-term demand for flexible workspace,” it said. “Digitalisation is changing how people work; people are increasingly wanting the personal lifestyle and productivity benefits, and businesses want to capture the strategic and financial advantages. With our unrivalled networks and format offerings, we are continuing to gain traction with major corporations that wish to benefit from these trends.”
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