UK wholesale operator CityFibre said it has accepted an acquisition that values the company at around GBP 537.8 million, or GBP 0.81 per share in cash. The offer was made by Bidco, a newly incorporated 50:50 consortium made up from Antin and WSIP, itself including West Street Global Infrastructure Partners and Broad Street Principal Investments UK. CityFibre said the deal represents a premium of almost 93 percent from the closing price of GBP 0.42 per share on 23 April, the last day before the bid announcement.
The bid will now have to be approved a majority (75%) of shareholders. The company’s directors said they will unanimously recommend the deal. Some shareholders, such as Invesco, Woodford, Pelham Capital and Jupiter have already said they will approve the scheme. Odey also wrote to say that it intends to greenlight the deal. Together, this means Bidco already has the preliminary approval of 67.82 percent of shares.
The deal is subject to other conditions and terms, including anti-trust clearances from authorities in China and the European Union. CityFibre said it has been advised by Rothschild as to the financial terms of the transaction.
