Webjet Group Ltd (ASX:WJL) shares have climbed 3% to 91.5 cents after private equity firm BGH Capital lobbed a fresh takeover proposal on Friday that tops both its rejected May offer and rival Helloworld Travel’s bid by 1 cent.
BGH, which previously sought board control alongside investor Gary Weiss, now holds 18.3% of Webjet under a cooperation agreement with Portfolio Services Pty Ltd, an entity associated with Ariadne Australia and Mr Weiss.
The firm’s earlier 80-cent-per-share proposal was knocked back by the Webjet board in May, but the higher bid now grants BGH access to due diligence, subject to a range of conditions.
Helloworld, which already owns 17% of Webjet, tabled its own $353 million, 90-cents-per-share offer earlier this week and has also been granted due diligence access. It has yet to respond publicly to BGH’s counter move. Helloworld shares are down 2% at $1.77.