Shanks Group up for sale
As we covered yesterday, waste management company Shanks Group is currently embroiled in a battle with Carlyle Group which has launched a £1.35 a share offer for the company. The offer values the company at £536 million and while initially Shanks Group had rejected the approach the company has said it is willing to consider doing business at £1.50 a share. So what will happen next?
In simple terms, the Shanks Group management have put the company up for sale to the highest bidder with a minimum price of £1.50 a share. In many ways the company was forced into this action when Carlyle Group approached major shareholders to gauge any support for a potential offer for the group. Once this position became public knowledge it is believed that Shanks group also spoke with leading shareholders and agreed that an offer in the region of £1.50 or better would be more likely to receive a favourable response from the board of directors.
So far Carlyle Group is the only named bidder for the company but by effectively hoisting the for sale sign above the door, Shanks group is now open to offers from any other party which may be interested in the operation. Whether we will see an auction when bearing in mind the current economic climate is debatable but one thing is certain, Shanks Group looks likely to lose its independence in the short to medium term.
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