Perpetual has rejected a takeover proposal from Windflower, a company indirectly controlled by Swedish private equity firm EQT, which valued the Australian fund manager at around AUD2.5bn ($1.7bn), according to a report by Bloomberg.
The Sydney-based firm said the offer, priced at AUD21.64 per share, was “highly conditional” and did not adequately represent fair value for shareholders. The proposal represented a premium of nearly 20% to Perpetual’s last closing price before a trading halt.
Perpetual’s shares rose sharply on Wednesday following speculation over a potential deal, reaching their highest level since March, although the stock remains down around 3% year-to-date.
The approach follows Perpetual’s agreement in March to sell its wealth management business to Bain Capital for around AUD500m, a transaction intended to allow the company to focus on asset management. In February, Perpetual reported half-year underlying profit after tax of AUD112.7m, up 12% year-on-year and ahead of analyst expectations.
