PEP conducts due diligence on Spotless
Australia’s Spotless Group has done an about-turn and allowed Pacific Equity Partners (PEP) to conduct due diligence into the cleaning services company. This comes despite the firm previously saying it would only open its books to PEP if it increased its offer to at least A$2.80 per share, or A$743 million ($760 million).
A public campaign run by Spotless shareholders Orbis Australia and Investors Mutual - which own 9% and 3% respectively - appears to have changed Chairman Peter Smedley's mind.
"We have moved to minimise the risks to the business and provide a platform for PEP to bring forward a proposal that shareholders can consider," Smedley said.
Spotless reiterated that it would not accept a takeover bid below A$743 million however, despite PEP saying last month that its $730 million bid is a compelling offer. The offer, which translates to A$2.68 per share, implies a multiple of 16.5x the projected EBITDA for 2012.
PEP already upped its bid for the firm once before. In early December, it offered A$711 million, up from A$700 million, in an attempt to coax the company that has twice rejected its private equity suitors.
Its original offer, of A$2.63 per share, was rejected by Spotless in November on the grounds that it did not fully represent the company's value, despite constituting a 12% premium on the company's trading price at the time. In May, Spotless also discarded Blackstone's takeover offer of A$657 million, or A$2.50 a share, which was similarly branded as being too low.
Spotless shares are currently trading at A$2.50 apiece.
More on Australasia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.