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Three months after investment management firm Pendal Group (ASX: PDL) rejected a $2.4 billion takeover offer from rival group Perpetual (ASX: PPT), the two are back in discussions regarding another potential transaction.
After going into a trading halt this morning, Pendal confirmed a few hours later that Perpetual’s proposed play was back on the table, although it did not disclose any further details.
“Discussions are highly conditional and incomplete and there is no certainty that they will result in a transaction,” Pendal said.
“The Pendal board will keep shareholders and the market informed in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations.”
Likewise, Perpetual also made a statement, noting it was in “high-level, preliminary, confidential discussions with Pendal in relation to a potential acquisition” and confirming it would not need to raise equity or tap into private investment to fund the deal.
“The discussions are not sufficiently advanced to warrant any further disclosure to shareholders at this time. Further, there is no certainty that the discussions will lead to any future agreement,” Perpetual said.
“In addition, in response to inaccurate media speculation, should there be a transaction, no equity raising would be required nor would there be private equity involvement.
“Perpetual will keep the market informed in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations.”
When Pendal first rejected Perpetual’s bid back in April, the firm helmed by CEO Nick Good said the proposal “significantly undervalues the current and future value” of the company.
The rejected offer would have seen the Sydney-based firm acquired for one PPT share for every 7.5 PDL shares plus $1.67 cash – representing an indicative value of $6.23 per PDL share based on the closing price on 1 April.
The board noted the offer only represented a 0.3 per cent premium to the 180-day volume-weighted average price of PDL shares up until then, determining it was "materially below" PDL's underlying standalone value.
Shares in PPT are down 0.32 per cent to $29.30 per share at 3.40pm AEST, while shares in Pendal are up 4.38 per cent to $4.29 per share.
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