- Prologis' third proposal values Segro at 993 pence per share
- Prologis faces a July 22 deadline to make a firm offer or walk away
- U.S. warehouse firm says it may seek a London secondary listing after combination
July 20 (Reuters) - U.S. warehouse company Prologis said on Monday that Segro rejected its latest £13.5 billion ($18.17 billion) takeover bid, urging its British rival's shareholders to push for its board's engagement ahead of a formal deadline.
Segro's board unanimously rejected the proposal — Prologis' third — on July 17. The bid values Segro at £9.93 per share and consists of 0.0890 new Prologis shares for each Segro share plus a partial cash alternative of up to £2.7 billion, Prologis said.
The latest proposal is at close to a 34% premium to the group's closing price on June 23, a day before Prologis first went public with its interest.
Prologis added that, under the proposed combination, it intends to explore the feasibility of a secondary listing of its shares on the London Stock Exchange.
Segro spurned the U.S. firm's initial £12.6 billion all-share proposal in June, saying it was "opportunistically timed" and significantly short of fair value. A second proposal was rejected on July 12.
The latest rejection has prompted Prologis, known for acquiring warehouse-focused REITs, to take its case directly to Segro's shareholders as British takeover rules dictate it has until July 22 to make a firm offer or walk away.
Segro did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Prologis' statement, which was issued outside UK business hours on Monday.
UK-listed companies have become the focus of growing international interest as British firms trade at relatively low valuations, with easyJet and Intertek among the blue-chip companies attracting takeover interest in recent months.
($1 = 0.7431 pounds)
Reporting by Nithyashree R B, Prerna Bedi and Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Joe Bavier
Source: Reuters