TPG Capital has formally withdrawn its offer to acquire InvoCare almost a month after Australia’s largest listed funeral company said the private equity firm’s AUD1.8 billion ($1.2bn) buyout proposal was too low, according to a report by The Financial Review.
TPG and InvoCare have been in dialogue since TPG submitted an offer of AUD12.65 per share which represented a 41% premium to the company’s share price prior to the bid. But the PE firm, which now holds a 19.9% stake in the business having acquired the holdings of several institutional investors including Aware Super, has now formally withdrawn its offer.
As well as failing to agree on a valuation of the business, InvoCare also wanted TPG to sign an agreement to get access to confidential information, which would have prevented it from voting its AUD360 million stock holding on anything at the company’s upcoming annual meeting and from speaking to shareholders, managers and suppliers, something TPG wasn’t willing to do.
TPG is now reportedly pushing for the nomination of a non-executive director. InvoCare has said the board will consider the proposal.
