The supreme court of New South Wales has approved the acquisition of investment advice firm Pendal by rival fund group Perpetual.
Perpetual first made a bid to acquire the advice firm in April 2022 for A$6.23 per share. When it was rejected, the fund group increased the offer to A$6.54 per share in August 2022, with the total sum for the deal set at A$2.5bn (£1.4bn, $1.7bn, €1.6bn) which was the agreed.
Pendal said in an Australian Stock Exchange filling: “Subject to the scheme becoming legally effective [on 12 January 2023], it is expected that implementation of the scheme will occur on 23 January 2023, at which time Pendal shareholders, who owned shares at 7.00pm (AEDT) on 16 January 2023, will receive the consideration mix for shares held by them. This comprises a total of A$1.65 cash per Pendal share held, less the permitted dividend amount of 3.5 cents per share which was paid to Pendal shareholders on 15 December 2022, and one Perpetual share for every seven Pendal shares.”
In November 2022, Perpetual was approached by a consortium of overseas and local private equity and fund management firms which offered to acquire the company for A$1.68bn.
But Perpetual turned down the offer, saying at the time that it “materially undervalued” the business and that it was “committed to progressing” with the acquisition of Pendal.
