Irish Continental Group's (ICG) independent directors have backed an improved takeover bid from the consortium led by ICG chief executive Eamonn Rothwell.
The ferries group said Mr Rothwell's Aella vehicle agreed the terms of a recommended revised offer for ICG at €24 a share in cash, valuing the company at €611.8 million, which represents a 29.7 per cent premium to Aella's original offer.
The company said the offer represents a 9.1 per cent premium on the One51 vehicle Moonduster's offer on June 14th.
Aella and Moonduster have been in a stalemate situation for weeks. On June 14th, Moonduster, which controls the voting of about 20.38 per cent of Irish Continental, announced the terms of a recommended cash offer of €22 per share for the company.
Property developer Liam Carroll also told the market last week he had increased his stake to 19.06 per cent from the 18.65 per cent interest.
ICG independent directors had issued an ultimatum on August 3rd to Aella and Moonduster that they would end talks and end the current offer period if there was no development by last Friday.
The closure of the offer period should have precluded both consortiums from making another bid for ICG for 12 months. But after that deadline passed, the independent directors opened yet another window of opportunity for the sides to reach agreement.
The new offer requires 75 per cent shareholder approval.