GLP: SEGRO rejects acquisition offer worth $18.2 billion
GLP calls on SEGRO shareholders to urge the board of directors to accept this merger plan Industrial real estate giant Prologis (PLD, stock price fell 0.18%) announced that European warehouse real estate company SEGRO has rejected its third round of acquisition plan after raising its offer. The transaction consideration is equivalent to 13.5 billion pounds, or approximately 18.16 billion US dollars. The world's largest industrial real estate holder said on Monday that SEGRO rejected a third-round offer on July 17, following the rejection of a second-round takeover offer on July 12. Recently, transatlantic real estate M&A transactions have exploded, and many established companies listed on the London Stock Exchange have received privatization acquisition invitations one after another. In order to promote the acquisition, GLP added 2.7 billion pounds in cash consideration to the third round plan, accounting for 20% of the total offer; at the same time, the share exchange ratio was increased. Each SEGRO share can be exchanged for 0.0890 new shares of GLP, which is 6% higher than the first round plan. GLP said that based on its own closing price of US$149.79 last Friday, if all shareholders choose the 20% cash payment plan, this third round of invitations will correspond to a valuation of 993 pence per share of SEGRO. Compared with SEGRO's closing price on June 23 (the trading day before the first-round acquisition news was disclosed), the premium reached 33.8%. SEGRO shares fell 1.8% to 881.40p in early trading on the news. If this merger is completed, it will become GLP's largest transaction since it spent $26 billion (including the assumption of debt) to acquire Duke Real Estate in 2022. The acquisition that year significantly expanded the e-commerce warehousing asset reserve of this San Francisco company; recently, GLP is making efforts to lay out data center real estate to seize the demand for computer room space brought by the artificial intelligence industry. GLP estimates that if all shareholders choose full cash consideration, SEGRO’s original shareholders will collectively hold approximately 9.2% of GLP’s shares after the transaction is completed. GLP simultaneously stated on Monday that if there is sufficient demand from market investors, the company will consider a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange. SEGRO has previously publicly stated that GLP's first-round offer seriously underestimated the intrinsic value of the company; it also claimed that the other party deliberately chose the current moment to launch the acquisition, intending to acquire the company at a low price by taking advantage of the mismatch between the stock price and fundamental value caused by geopolitical turmoil. GLP said that the third round of acquisition plan is highly attractive to shareholders of both parties, and called on SEGRO shareholders to pressure the board of directors to support this merger transaction.