Richard Balfour-Lynn’s MWB Group has ended talks regarding a takeover of its subsidiary, Business Exchange.
The group, which first announced it was in discussions with the independent directors of the serviced office group in July over a proposed £52m deal, “has decided not to proceed with an offer”.
A statement released to a stock exchange said: “Further to the announcement made on 12 December 2011 by Business Exchange, after careful consideration, notwithstanding that MWB remains a committed shareholder of Business Exchange, MWB has decided not to proceed with an offer for Business Exchange.”
Yesterday the group had been granted its third extension to announce a decision on the proposal.
The move comes after the group’s heated annual general meeting yesterday in which the group’s board and shareholders reportedly argued.
According to the Telegraph, major shareholder Pyrrho was accused of driving down the company’s share price by publishing open letters to the board and then entering the market to buy more shares.
The accusation was denied by Pyrrho chairman Anson Chan, who had repeatedly questioned the MWB board about its strategy, management and performance. He also called into question the treatment of preference shares in the company accounts.
The MWB board also found itself under attack over plans to buy its listed serviced office subsidiary MWB Business Exchange.
Pyrrho, which owns 24% of MWB, has previously opposed the takeover of Business Exchange. It has twice written open letters to MWB detailing its concerns.
The acrimonious exchanges at the AGM came to a head over questioning about high levels of interest, up 27%, on debt refinanced earlier this year.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
