(Alliance News) - Pollen Street Secured Lending PLC said Tuesday it has been granted more time to complete a takeover by Waterfall Asset Management LLC.
Pollen Street Secured Lending, which invests in credit assets from non-bank lending platforms, said in late February it was in talks over a possible 900 pence per share bid from Waterfall.
Shares were flat on Tuesday in London at 650.00p each.
Waterfall had until 1700 BST on Tuesday to either back away or make a firm bid, but the Panel on Takeovers & Mergers has agreed to extend this to 1700 BST on May 19.
"The terms of any offer remain subject to discussion and to the completion of due diligence by Waterfall. The board has not yet been able to provide due diligence information requested by Waterfall and, whilst some progress has been made, the board is disappointed by the speed of progress, but continues to work with its advisers to be in a position to furnish sufficient due diligence information," said Pollen Street Secured Lending.
"Waterfall has indicated that it remains committed to pursuing the possible offer, and the board is continuing to make every effort to progress the possible offer in the interests of shareholders. There can be no certainty that a firm offer will be made, nor as to the price or the terms on which any offer might be made."
In early March, Pollen Street Secured Lending said it was mulling legal action against its investment manager PSC Credit Holdings LLP, accusing it of deliberately withholding information needed for proper due diligence to be carried out by Waterfall.
At the same time as announcing the possible offer in late February, Pollen Street Secured Lending gave PSC 12 months' notice that their relationship was to end.
PSC in late February said it was "deeply disappointed" by Pollen Street Secured Lending's decision to end the agreement. It said Waterfall's due diligence request was "unusually extensive" for a public takeover offer and was concerned over whether making such information available was in the interests of Pollen Street Secured Lending shareholders.
Since then, PSC has urged Pollen Street Secured Lending shareholders to make changes to the Pollen Street Secured Lending board.
Turning to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pollen Street Secured Lending said the virus has had a "major impact" on the markets in which it operates.
"In response the company has adopted a prudent strategy with the focus being on managing the existing portfolio and ensuring that cash collections remain robust. The manager is not proposing to re-invest the vast majority of cash generated by the portfolio in new investments for the foreseeable future," it added.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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