Harworth rejects £582.9m takeover bid from Peel Group

(Sharecast News) - Harworth said on Friday that it had rejected a £582.9m takeover bid from Peel Group. The land and property firm said it had had "no substantive engagement" with Peel Group before the 172.5p a share offer was announced on Thursday.

"The board is unanimous and unequivocal in its rejection of the offer which, in its view, fundamentally undervalues Harworth and its near and longer-term prospects," it said. "The board also believes that the offer has been opportunistically timed to take advantage of a material dislocation between Harworth's share price and the value of its underlying assets, driven predominantly by macroeconomic factors.

"The board remains confident in Harworth's ability to deliver attractive long-term returns for shareholders, as demonstrated by the group delivering an average 8.1% total accounting return over the past five years."

Harworth said it would be writing to shareholders with its formal response to Peel Group's offer once the offer document has been posted.

Peel Group, which already owns just under 30% of Harworth's shares, said on Thursday that the company's assets would be best owned, managed and developed under its full control. It said the offer represented "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 1555 BST, Harworth shares were up 1.2% at 180.20p.

See latest RNS on Investegate