Greycoat looked set last night to pass into the hands of its management after a buyout bid of £282.5m trumped the £268.5m offered by speculator George Soros's Delancey Estates. Analysts said it looked as if the G2 Estates management vehicle had delivered a 'knockout blow' in the auction for the property group.
Independent directors recommended the G2 offer, and the buyout team has support from holders of 50% of Greycoat's shares and 19% of its warrants. 'I can't see Delancey coming back at these levels,' said one property analyst.
Greycoat shares rose 9.5p at 257p on the news, and Delancey moved 5p to 115p.
Barring a surprise counterbid G2's agreed offer marks the end of the auction for the company instigated by its independent directors when Delancey made its initial hostile offer on March 20.
Sealed envelopes containing tender bids for Greycoat were opened on Wednesday under the supervision of merchant bank NM Rothschild, whose director Robert Leitao said yesterday the G2 offer was the 'highest bid received in the tender process in all respects - the highest price as well as the best currency'. In contrast to the Delancey offer, the G2 bid was all cash.
G2 Estates was formed by the executive management of Greycoat. In all, five serious bids are thought to have been received for Greycoat.
Mr Leitao said he did not expect a further bid from Delancey as Greycoat's independent directors have extracted from half of its shareholders - including Schroder Investment Management, Morgan Grenfell Asset Management and Hermes - a commitment to accept G2's offer unless a new bid comes in at not less than 280p a share, against the 260p offered by G2.
