Warburg Pincus has increased its proposed offer for Australian retirement living and holiday park operator Ingenia Communities to approximately $1.5bn, raising the prospect of a renewed takeover battle for the ASX-listed company, according to a report by he Wall Street Journal.
The New York-based private equity firm has put forward an all-cash indicative proposal of AUD5.25 per Ingenia share, up from the AUD5.05 offer rejected by the company’s board a week earlier and more than 10% above its initial AUD4.75-a-share approach made in early September.
Ingenia confirmed it received the latest proposal late on Friday and said its board was continuing to assess the terms. Its shares rose 6.8% to AUD4.805 during early trading on Monday.
The latest proposal is conditional on Ingenia agreeing to the terms of a full due diligence process by 2 October and confirming that it intends to recommend the offer to shareholders.
Ingenia said its board had not yet reached a conclusion on the merits of the revised proposal or whether the conditions attached to it were acceptable.
Warburg Pincus has also maintained a key condition to its interest in Ingenia: the company must abandon its proposed acquisition of Australian homebuilder Peet, which is listed on the ASX.
Ingenia operates retirement communities and holiday parks across Australia, giving Warburg Pincus an opportunity to expand its exposure to the country’s growing retirement living market. The private equity firm already has more than $10bn invested across real estate platforms and related businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.
