London’s Sanne Group is in advanced talks with fund servicer Apex Group on a possible cash takeover bid of up to £1.49bn.
At 920 pence per share, the offer values the UK asset manager at around £1.49bn and represents a premium of 9 per cent on Sanne’s share closing price of 844.0 pence on Friday.
Sanne said on Monday that it had indicated to Apex that it would be prepared to recommend the offer to shareholders if a firm intention was made by the bidder.
For now, the group’s board said that there is no certainty that an offer will be made and that there would be an announcement if confirmed.
“Apex is well advanced in its due diligence review and is working closely with Sanne to complete the review as quickly as possible,” the board said.
Apex has a deadline of 30 Aug to make an offer or withdraw from the bidding process.
It comes just four days before private equity firm Cinven’s 6 August deadline for its proposed all cash offer of 875p per share for the asset services firm.
The bid represents Cinven’s fifth proposal for the firm, after Sanne rejected its offer of 850p in May. Following an original July deadline, Sanne requested an extension to August as talks with Cinven continued.
Sanne’s shares were up 8.41 per cent on the news on Monday morning.
