Parques Reunidos consortium could close offer around end August/early September - sources
A consortium bid for Parques Reunidos [BME:PQR] is likely to close around the end of August or beginning of September, said two sources familiar with the situation.
The offer for the Spanish operator of leisure parks, which is being led by EQT, was announced on 26 April. The consortium is likely to take a full month to submit the offer documentation to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), said a third source familiar with the situation.
Under the Spanish takeover code, the CNMV can ask unlimited questions to a bidder while studying a bid prospectus. The authority then has 20 working days to take a decision from its last question. This makes it difficult to predict the timing of approval processes in practice.
However, under new chairman Sebastian Albella, the CNMV is targeting faster and more predictable processes, as reported. While he has been at the helm of the authority, KKR’s [NYSE:KKR] bid for Telepizza [BME:TPZ] was approved on 29 March after being submitted on 8 February (seven weeks).
The approval process for LetterOne’s (L1) offer document for DIA [BME:DIA] went even faster, with the regulator approving the paperwork on 28 March after beginning the process on 21 February (five weeks). However, the regulator was moving particularly fast in this case because of the threat of missed covenants, as reported.
If EQT’s consortium takes a month to file and the regulator then takes seven weeks, as it did with Telepizza, approval would come in mid-July. Offer periods begin shortly after regulatory approval and typically last a month, which would bring it to mid-August in this case.
However, Spaniards typically take their annual vacations in August. Under the Spanish takeover code, offer periods can last from 15 to 70 days. EQT’s consortium will target a close around the end of the month or early September, the first two sources said.
The bid vehicle, Piolin BidCo, will pay up to EUR 631m for close to 56% of the company’s shares in its takeover. Holders of around 44% have agreed not to tender into the offer, but to roll their shares into the vehicle in return for a stake at the end of the takeover, as reported.
A spokesperson for EQT declined to comment. The CNMV never provides a running commentary on its approval processes.