Jersey fund drops hostile takeover bid of UK wealth manager

It ‘believes that other growth and acquisition opportunities are more compelling at this time’

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Team has said it no longer intends to proceed with its possible M&A offer for UK-based Tavistock Investments.

This comes after Tavistock said on 19 April that 51.12% of shareholders were prepared to reject the £15.2m ($21m, €17.5m). bid which was made on 11 March 2021.

The Jersey fund said in a London Stock Exchange announcement on 20 April: “Team have engaged constructively with shareholders of Tavistock but have not been able to fully engage with the board of Tavistock.

“As a consequence, the board of Team believes that other growth and acquisition opportunities are more compelling at this time and in the best interest of its shareholders to pursue.”

Rejection

Since the bid was made on 11 March, Tavistock board members have dismissed the approach made by Team as it was “without merit”.

The wealth manager’s board said the offer “significantly undervalues Tavistock’s business”, there is no “commercial logic to justify a combination of the two businesses”, and it “does not consider that a paper-only offer is in the interests of the company’s shareholders”.

But not everyone was against the bid, as Team said it had received non-binding letters from Tavistock shareholders, representing a 15.03% share of the company, stating they were keen to proceed with acquisition negotiations.

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