Daily Mail owner shares collapse over 70 per cent ahead of exiting the London Stock Exchange
The Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) group had its shares collapse by more than 70 per cent today, ahead of delisting from the London Stock Exchange.
The sharp drop was triggered by the stock going ‘ex’ its special dividend today, meaning it is trading without the value of the next dividend payment.
It comes after the takeover bid from Rothermere Continuation Limited (RCL) became unconditional yesterday, given the “very high level” of shareholder acceptance.
RCL is set to acquire 84.6 per cent of all DMGT shares once the deal is completed. However, it is not yet known when the group will delist from the exchange, where it has lived for 90 years.
Lord Rothermere’s investment vehicle, who already controlled all of the ordinary shares in the company, agreed to de-list DGMT last month after the sale of the group’s insurance business, as well as a listing of the online car seller Cazoo, which it partly owned.
Shares plunged 74.8 per cent to 269p per share by mid-afternoon.
Rothermere’s offer included a special dividend of 568p a share, 0.5749 Cazoo shares for each DMGT share and final dividend of 17.3p Though existing shareholders receive returns valued at about 1,278p per share.