AA extends deadline for £218m takeover offer

(Sharecast News) - The AA has extended the deadline for its private equity suitors to make a firm takeover offer, the motoring and insurance group said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the AA said it had a received a non-binding £218m cash approach from TowerBrook Capital Partners and Warburg Pincus International.

The AA signalled it was willing to recommend the bid, but the consortium has yet to make a final offer.

Under the Takeover Code, TowerBrook and Warburg Pincus were scheduled to either make a final offer or walk away by 1700 GMT on 24 November. But the AA said it remained engaged in "advanced discussions" with the two firms and as a consequence, it had requested an extension to the deadline, which has been granted by the Takeover Panel. The consortium now has until 1700 GMT on Wednesday 25 November to make a firm offer.

Under the terms of the deal being discussed, the two private equity firms will pay 35p per share and invest £380m to help reduce AA's £2.6bn debt mountain.

As at 1300 GMT, AA shares were off 2% at 31.35p.

The AA was founded in 1905 as the Automobile Association. A mutual until 1999, it has since been through a number of private equity owners before it was floated on the London market in 2014.