Newspaper tycoon Lord Rothermere has increased his offer for Daily Mail & General Trust PLC (DMGT) to 270p per share following criticism from shareholders that the previous bid undervalued the publisher.
On 3 November, Rothermere and those directors of DMGT deemed non-conflicted agreed a takeover price of £850mln for the publisher of the Daily Mail, the i and Metro, with shareholders to receive 255p in cash, a special dividend of 568p, and 0.5749 Cazoo shares for each share they own.
But the offer prompted criticism from major shareholders.
J O Hambro Capital Management, which holds a 3.3% stake in DMGT ‘A’ shares and advises over a further 2.6% holdings, said it would not accept the offer because the price was not fair and undervalued DMGT’s assets.
Another shareholder, Majedie Asset Management, which has a 4.6% stake in DMGT, said its estimated valuation of the largest businesses within DMGT was well over double the offer price and urged shareholders not to accept the offer.
Today’s upgraded bid, which has been recommended by DMGT’s non-conflicted directors, is the final offer and will not be increased.
In addition to raising the offer price, Rothermere has also changed the acceptance conditions, lowering the threshold for acceptances to 50% from 90%.
Through the Jersey-registered holding company Rothermere Continuation Limited (RCL), the Rothermere family already owns and has received acceptances for shares representing 41.8% of DMGT.
Shareholders have until 1pm on 16 December to accept the final offer.