Peel Group makes £583m bid for Harworth, shares surge

(Sharecast News) - Harworth surged on Thursday after Peel Group made a £582.9m takeover offer for the land and property firm. Under the terms of the offer, Peel Group would pay 172.5p per share in cash, which is a premium of 20.1% to the closing share price on Wednesday. It's a 36% premium to the three month volume-weighted average share price.

Peel Group is a long-term investor in Harworth, which owns and manages a portfolio of assets predominantly comprising modern industrial and logistics investment properties and strategic land holdings, located in the North of England and the Midlands.

Peel Group, which already owns just under 30% of Harworth's shares, said the company's assets would be best owned, managed and developed under its full control. It said the offer represents "a compelling opportunity" for Harworth shareholders to realise full liquidity for their shareholding at fair value.

Peel Group is majority-owned by Manchester billionaire John Whittaker.

At 0920 BST, Harworth shares were up 20.4% at 172.82p.

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