* Blackstone makes possible offer of 542p per St. Modwen
share
* St. Modwen stock soars as much as 20%
* Board willing to back deal if Blackstone makes firm offer
(Adds shares, detail on company, Blackstone deals)
By Yadarisa Shabong
May 7 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Blackstone Group
has made a 1.21 billion pound ($1.68 billion) buyout
proposal for St. Modwen Properties, the companies said
on Friday, sending shares in the British real estate developer
soaring.
The potential offer comes at a time when the housebuilder
and logistics firm, which counts e-commerce players Amazon UK,
DHL and Ocado as clients, has seen a growth in warehousing
demand due to online shopping during the pandemic.
Shares in the London-listed firm climbed as much as 20% to
538 pence, just shy of the 542 pence apiece potential offer.
They have gained about 30% in the past 12 months.
The non-binding conditional offer, which follows a series of
other proposals by Blackstone, was at a premium of about 21% to
the stock's last closing price.
St. Modwen said its board would be willing to recommend the
proposal unanimously should Blackstone make a firm offer at that
price by the June 4 deadline.
The Birmingham-based company builds homes, owns and manages
several industrial and logistics assets in Britain and develops
sites for housebuilding, commercial and other projects.
St. Modwen made a loss of 120.8 million pounds last year,
hurt mainly by site closures during initial lockdowns in the UK
in 2020 despite recording profits in the second half.
Dealmaking has been picking up steam in 2021, with
companies, private equity firms and special purpose acquisition
companies (SPACs) all eyeing acquisitions this year after the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blackstone, currently performing due diligence on St.
Modwen, has been busy across the world in the past few months
and is currently in a takeover battle for Australia's Crown
Resorts Ltd.
In February, Blackstone joined forces with former Gatwick
owner GIP and Bill Gates' investment vehicle to buy private jet
services firm Signature Aviation for $4.73 billion.
($1 = 0.7192 pounds)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil
D'Silva and Elaine Hardcastle)
