GardaWorld refuses to raise G4S offer ahead of auction showdown

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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 G4S takeover saga is finally over, with shareholders in the security company accepting Allied Universal's offer.

Canadian firm GardaWorld will not raise its final offer to acquire G4S, leaving the field clear for Allied Universal to triumph in the bidding war.

Ahead of a five-day Takeover Panel auction this week, GardaWorld has announced that it will not boost its proposal of 235p per share.

Stephan Crétier, founder, chairman, president, and CEO of GardaWorld, believes there are better and less risky opportunities above the bidder’s final offer.

Crétier said: “There can be no better owner for G4S than GardaWorld, but we are disciplined buyers and we will not overpay for a company with systemic ESG issues that continue to come to light.”

Long-running battle

GardaWorld has locked horns for more than two months with fellow North American firm Allied Universal for the FTSE 250 company.

The latter now appears to be in the driving seat after offering 245p per share in December, which values G4S at £3.8bn.

At the end of bidding, neither party will be able to change their offer unless permitted by the Takeover Panel.

The long-running tussle has done wonders for G4S’ share price, which has almost tripled from 90p per share last March to 242.7 on 22 February.