Takeover bid cancellation pummels Intu Properties’ share price
Stock falls 39.2% to R20.80, with CEO citing nervousness over Brexit as major concern for pull-out
A consortium led by the biggest investor in Intu Properties has scrapped a £2.9bn bid for the British shopping centres owner, the second time in less than a year a takeover of the firm has collapsed. Intu shares fell 39.2% to R20.80 after Peel Group, which is the vehicle of Intu’s deputy chairman and major investor John Whittaker, Canadian property firm Brookfield and Saudi Arabia’s Olayan Group said macroeconomic uncertainty and potential market volatility meant they would not submit an offer. Intu CEO David Fischel blamed mounting concern about Britain’s impending exit from the EU for the collapse of the takeover talks.
“The escalation in the news around Brexit and all the potential ramifications has obviously ramped up a lot in the last couple of weeks and has made it a very hard climate to make a big investment decision,” he said. Intu also said in response to the consortium’s withdrawal that it would “substantially” cut its dividend this year to conserve cash to invest in...
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