20th Oct 2014 06:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Spirit Pub Company PLC Monday said it is open to recommending a higher takeover proposal from rival Greene King PLC that values the company at about GBP723 million.
Under the revised proposals, Spirit Pub shareholders would receive 0.1322 Greene King shares per Spirit share they own and a cash payment of 8 pence, including any 2014 final dividend, representing an indicative value of about 109.5 pence per share, based on the closing price of Greene King shares on Friday.
"The board of Spirit has indicated to Greene King that it would be willing to recommend an offer at the level of the revised proposal to Spirit shareholders subject to the satisfactory resolution of the other terms of the offer. Accordingly, the board is in discussions with Greene King in relation to these terms," Spirit said in a statement.
News of the revised proposal comes after Spirit last month rejected a GBP661 million takeover approach from Greene King for undervaluing it and its prospects.
Spirit has agreed to extend the deadline by which Greene King has to decide whether to announce a firm intention to make an offer or that it doesn't intend to make an offer. Greene King now has until 1700 GMT on October 30 to do so, as opposed to the previous deadline of Tuesday October 21 at 1700 BST.
"There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made," Spirit said, adding that it made the statement with Greene King's consent.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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