2nd May 2019 15:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Thalassa Holdings Ltd on Thursday extended the closing date of its offer and said Local Shopping REIT PLC had failed to provide required shareholder information.
Thalassa extended its offer deadline twice in April, once to April 24 and again to May 1. The offer has now been extended to 1300 BST Friday. On Wednesday, the company had received acceptances from 18.5% of Local Shopping REIT shareholders.
Combining its own shares in the real estate investment trust with these acceptances, Thalassa owns or has received acceptances for its offer from approximately 39.3% of shares.
Thalassa is offering 14.64 pence in cash and 0.26 Thalassa consideration shares for every Local Shopping REIT share it does not already hold
Thalassa has sent a letter before action to Local Shopping REIT, in which it claims the trust breached the Companies Act 2006 because it failed to provide shareholder information which Thalassa is entitled to "despite numerous requests having been made".
"It should be noted that where a company is found to have breached the relevant provisions of the act, an offence is committed by every officer of the company who is in default which may result in those individuals being personally imprisoned and or fined," said Thalassa.
Local Shopping REIT issued its own statement regarding the Thalassa offer, noting that the valid acceptances disclosed by Thalassa show a net reduction of 49,132 shares from the acceptances previously announced at the offer's third closing date.
"The board of [Local Shopping REIT] notes that nine weeks after making its offer Thalassa has secured acceptances over only 13.8% of LSR's issued share capital. This strengthens the LSR directors' view that it is highly unlikely that Thalassa will achieve the acceptance condition for its offer prior to the closing date," said Local Shopping REIT.
Local Shopping REIT reiterated its reservations regarding the Thalassa offer, including its view that Thalassa shares are "unacceptably risky".
"The board therefore continues to recommend that LSR shareholders who have so far ignored Thalassa's offer continue to do so, and those LSR shareholders who have previously accepted Thalassa's offer withdraw their acceptance," said Local Shopping REIT.
Shares in Thalassa were down 1.2% at 80.00 pence and Local Shopping REIT shares were untraded at 29.20 pence on Thursday.
Related Shares:
Thalassa (di)LSR.L