Flexible office group Workspace has agreed a £272m takeover of McKay Securities.
Workspace will pay a mix of cash and shares to buy the REIT. The offer values each McKay share at 297p, a premium of more than a third over yesterday’s closing price and a discount of 7% on net asset value.
Workspace said the deal will make it “a larger and more resilient company”, with gross property assets of £2.9bn, most of which will be London offices and some light industrial assets and offices in the South East.
Workspace chief executive Graham Clemett said: “The market for office space is shifting, with businesses prioritising greater flexibility and the right location for their teams. This acquisition is a fantastic opportunity to accelerate our growth plans by capturing more of the strong demand we are seeing for our flexible offer in London, whilst selectively extending our reach into attractive commercial locations in the South East.”
McKay has recommended shareholders accept the offer. Chairman Richard Grainger said it followed “a detailed and rigorous review during which we considered a broad range of options to unlock value for McKay shareholders”.
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