Germany's Allianz agreed a £903 million bid for UK project manager John Laing, trumping a rival offer and spurring a rise of more than 10 per cent in Laing's shares on hopes of a bid battle.
John Laing said today it was backing a deal worth 385 pence a share in cash for ordinary shareholders from Alliance Infrastructure Holding Limited, part of German insurer Allianz Group, a bid beating a previously agreed offer from fund manager Henderson.
"The directors of John Laing have withdrawn their recommendation of the Henderson proposals and are now recommending that John Laing shareholders accept the Allianz offers," John Laing's Chairman William Forrester said.
The Allianz proposal was above Henderson's offer of 355 pence a share. "We have signals that we could get roughly 52 percent of Laing shares, but we don't own the shares yet. We are intending to take over 100 percent," an Allianz spokeswoman in Munich said.
John Laing said the offer valued the entire issued share capital of the group, including preference shares, at £957.5 million.
Allianz Infrastructure said the offer represented a premium of around 39.7 percent to the Laing share price at the close of business on Sept. 13 and 8.5 percent to the Henderson offer.
"It has an attractive existing portfolio and pipeline ... and it has what some people would consider the most experienced and established team in the sector," Thomas Putter, Director of Allianz Infrastructure Holdings Limited said. Mr Putter said he expected the deal to be completed towards the end of the year.