M&G tables £191m bid in UK Mortgages hostile takeover
M&G today said it has tabled a bid of roughly £191m for UK Mortgages Limited, marking its final offer in a hostile takeover effort.
The asset manager, which is acting on behalf of its M&G Specialty Finance Fund, said it has ramped up its offer by 3p to 70p per share — an increase of 4.5 per cent.
M&G said the offer, which values UK Mortgages at roughly £191m, represented a 26 per cent premium on its closing share price of 55.5p on 17 July.
M&G accused the UK Mortgages board of “refusing to engage” with its takeover bid and said the increased offer marked a “final attempt”.
“[M&G] strongly believes that its increased and final all cash offer would provide UK Mortgages Limited shareholders with an immediate cash exit at a highly attractive premium,” the asset manager said.
The investment manager added that it would reduce its offer to 68.5p per share if UK Mortgages Limited paid out its proposed interim dividend of 1.5p per share before completion.
UK Mortgages, which is controlled by Twenty Four Asset Management, has struggled with the hit to interest rates and impact of coronavirus on credit markets.
M&G Specialty Finance Fund is managed by M&G Investment and was launched in 2018 to allow investors to gain exposure to pools of mortgages and consumer credit.
It comes a day after M&G revealed its profit dropped by more than half in the first six months of the year after retail investors rushed to withdraw funds during the coronavirus crisis and it counted the costs of its demerger.