Battle for Britain

19 March 2018 By Aimee Donnellan Follow @aimeedonnellan

The British shopping centre operator has rejected a 4.9 bln pound approach from European rival Klepierre. The 20 percent discount to Hammerson’s net assets looks opportunistic. But it also highlights investors’ doubts about the UK group’s punt on domestic peer Intu Properties.

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French shopping centre operator Klépierre on March 19 confirmed it had proposed buying Hammerson in a deal that valued its British rival at 4.9 billion pounds.

Klépierre said it had offered 615 pence per share, a premium of 41 percent to Hammerson’s closing price on March 16. The French company said the proposal was made on March 8 and that it was rejected by the Hammerson board in less than 24 hours.

Hammerson said it had rejected the approach, which it described as “unsolicited and entirely opportunistic in its timing”.

Hammerson shares were up 26.2 percent at 552 pence by 0916 GMT on March 19. Shares in Klépierre were down 3.7 percent at 33.47 euros.

In December, Hammerson agreed to buy smaller rival Intu Properties for about 3.4 billion pounds.

Context News

French shopping centre operator Klépierre on March 19 confirmed it had proposed buying Hammerson in a deal that valued its British rival at 4.9 billion pounds.

Hammerson said it had rejected the approach, which it described as “unsolicited and entirely opportunistic in its timing”.

Hammerson shares were up 26.2 percent at 552 pence by 0916 GMT on March 19. Shares in Klépierre were down 3.7 percent at 33.47 euros.

In December, Hammerson agreed to buy smaller rival Intu Properties for about 3.4 billion pounds.

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