* GardaWorld makes all-cash offer of 190p/G4S share
* G4S rejects offer, shares up 25% to 182 pence
* GW encourages G4S shareholders to press for board's
engagement
(Releads with G4S statement, details on talks, updates shares)
By Yadarisa Shabong
Sept 14 (Reuters) - Britain's G4S said on Monday it
had rejected a 2.95 billion pound ($3.8 billion) offer from
Canadian security firm GardaWorld, saying it was "highly
opportunistic".
GardaWorld said when it announced the offer earlier on
Monday that it had encouraged G4S shareholders to "mandate their
board's engagement" after its attempts to engage directly were
"summarily dismissed or ignored on three occasions".
Shares in G4S had jumped 25% to 182.3 pence by 1341 GMT,
just shy of the 190 pence per share offer, which represents a
premium of about 30% to its last close.
G4S, whose shares had lost around 33% of their value this
year to Friday's close, rejected the sweetened proposal made on
Sept. 1, revealing that it had also declined two previous offers
in June for 145 pence per share and 153 pence per share each.
"The Board believes that the timing of the proposal is
highly opportunistic, coming as it does at a time of severe
turbulence in global financial markets," it said, urging its
shareholders to not take any action.
GardaWorld last year considered a cash offer for some or all
of G4S, but by May had opted not pursue a deal. Two months later
private equity BC Partners bought a majority stake in the
Canadian firm.
In the past year G4S has had to allay investor concerns
after setbacks including charges that some executives had
defrauded the Ministry of Justice, the loss of a contract to run
a Birmingham prison, and Norway's wealth fund shunning
investments in the firm.
It sold off most of its cash-handling business in February
to U.S. peer Brinks Co, and in July announced plans to
lay off some employees at its retained UK cash operations, which
have attached pension obligations.
"G4S needs an owner, not a manager," GardaWorld's founder
and chief executive Stephan Cretier said on Monday. He said he
understood G4S's importance as a UK employer and steps would be
taken to address its "underfunding" of UK pension obligations.
"Since the pandemic G4S's valuation has made it more
appealing, whilst revenues of about 7 billion pounds annually
remain far ahead of GW," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.
"This will be the tiddler swallowing the whale."
($1 = 0.7772 pounds)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Pushkala Aripaka in
Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Jan Harvey)
