Bovis bidder Redrow weighs revised offer; Galliard decides against bid - reports
Redrow [LON:RDW], the UK-based housebuilder which was recently rejected by rival Bovis Homes [LON:BVS], is considering returning with a new takeover approach, The Sunday Times reported. Redrow is reportedly eager to tie up a deal, although sources warned that Redrow’s board is anxious to ensure any transaction will offer “reasonable” value to Redrow investors.
Bovis last week confirmed it had turned down Redrow’s 814p-per-share cash-and-stock approach and was in negotiations on a separate 886p-per-share offer from Galliford Try [LON:GFRD], the report noted.
The privately owned housebuilder Galliard Homes is believed also to have looked at a deal for Bovis, using a reverse takeover to secure a listing on the stock market, the item reported. However, Galliard is thought to have opted instead to acquire more land on the London outskirts, the report said.
Royal London Asset Management fund manager Richard Marwood said in a Sunday Telegraph report that he would rather Bovis tie up with Redrow than with Galliford Try. Marwood said a deal with Redrow would likely be “neater” because the company focuses purely on housebuilding, whereas Galliford also operates in industrial construction. Royal London is among Bovis’ top 10 investors, the report noted.
Bovis had an approximately GBP 1.2bn (USD 1.5bn) market cap at the close of trading last week.
The original items appeared in The Sunday Times, Business section, page 3; and The Sunday Telegraph, Business section, page 1