G4S seeks to calm investors as rivals circle outsourcer
Takeover target G4S today said that its retail cash solutions (RCS) business could pull in $600m a year in revenue by 2025 as it sought to bolster the case for investors to ignore circling competitors.
The FTSE 250 outsourcer has been the subject of a months-long pursuit by Canadian security firm Gardaworld, which has made multiple offers for the business.
And earlier this month US firm Allied Universal joined the race with a higher bid than Gardaworld, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the firm.
G4S has told shareholders to ignore both offers, saying that they “significantly undervalue” the company.
This morning the board released a prospectus to the market outlining what they called the “exceptional unrecognised value” of the retail cash business.
Currently, the arm makes $170m in revenue a year, but G4S said it was confident that it could grow this figure 25 per a year over the next half-decade.
“The board of G4S believes that RCS has a unique and highly differentiated offering which is unmatched by competitors”, it said.
“When compared to software peers, hardware peers or traditional CIT players, competitors have a much narrower competitive offering, focused either on balancing and reconciliation or on logistics.”
Gardaworld hit back at the claims, saying: “More jam tomorrow, more ‘aspirational’ targets. A 24 page presentation about a business that accounts for less than 3 per cent of Group revenues.
“The attempt to position G4S as some kind of embryonic FinTech ‘disruptor’ is delusional and, frankly, insulting to shareholders. As a shareholder in this business, we are deeply concerned.”
The two sides have been sniping at each other for months, with this morning’s foray just the latest in a number of skirmishes.
Last week Gardaworld revealed it had been cleared to go ahead with its pursuit by North American regulators, a fact which was brushed off for G4S.
Shares in the firm remained flat today.