The board of Hornby Plc (LON:HRN) has slammed the recent takeover offer from its largest shareholder which it thinks “significantly undervalues” the model train maker.
Phoenix Asset Management was obliged under City rules to make an offer to buy the rest of AIM-quoted Hornby which it doesn’t already own after upping its stake above 50% last week.
On Friday, the investment fund confirmed it had made an offer of 32.375p a share which hasn’t gone down well with Hornby bosses.
“The board considers that the mandatory cash offer of 32.375p per Hornby share significantly undervalues Hornby and its future prospects,” the company said in a statement this morning.
The Kent-based firm added that it will be writing to shareholders with a formal response in due course but “strongly advised” shareholders to take no action in the meantime.
Hornby recently implemented a turnaround plan to try and turn the business around after several profit warnings in recent years.
On Wednesday, the same day as the Phoenix offer was first revealed, the Scalextric maker said the strategy was having an effect as it reported a narrowed loss for last year.
Shares were unchanged at 33.5p.