(Alliance News) - Sanne Group PLC on Friday confirmed that, despite Apex Group Ltd's recent takeover approach, worth GBP1.5 billion, it is still in merger talks with Cinven Ltd and requested a 'put up or shut up' deadline extension.
A possible bidding war between Apex and Cinven may be approaching as both companies show no signs of letting up in their pursuit of purchasing Sanne.
"Cinven is considering its options and continues to work closely with Sanne regarding a possible offer," said Sanne.
Cinven now has until August 30 - the same deadline as rival suitor Apex - to either announce a firm offer for Sanne or walk away. Sanne entered talks with private equity firm Cinven over a 875p offer in June, after rejecting a string of lower offers.
The London-based provider of alternative asset and corporate services on Monday said it was in advanced talks with financial services provider, Apex Group Ltd, over a possible cash buyout worth 920 pence per Sanne share.
FTSE 250-listed Sanne noted Apex's offer represents a 53% premium to Sanne's closing share price of 603p on May 13, the day before the commencement of the current offer period.
With 162.2 million shares in issue, this offer would value Sanne at around GBP1.49 billion.
Shares in Sanne were trading up 1.2% at 923.00 pence each in London on Friday morning.
In an interim trading update last week, Sanne said it is confident of delivering full-year results in line with its expectations.
The firm reported a "resilient" performance in the six months that ended June 30, as it continued to see growth returning to its core markets despite the lingering Covid-19 pandemic.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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