Balanced Commercial Property Trust accepts takeover by Starwood funds

(Alliance News) - Balanced Commercial Property Trust Ltd has accepted a takeover offer from funds managed by private equity firm Starwood Capital, the two companies said on Wednesday.

The offer of 96.00 pence in cash per Balanced Commercial Property share values the FTSE 250 company's equity at GBP673.5 million.

The offer represents a 22% premium to its share price of 79.00p on April 12, when Balanced Commercial Property launched a strategic review, but a 8.7% discount to its net asset value per share of 105.1p on June 30.

Balanced Commercial Property shares were up 9.7% at 94.52p in London early Wednesday.

Starwood Capital invests in real estate, energy infrastructure, and oil and gas. The takeover agreement is with a bidding vehicle managed by Starwood Capital European Operations Ltd.

Balanced Commercial Property directors unanimously recommended the deal to shareholders. The agreement already has support from shareholders representing 25.8% of the company's shares.

The Balanced Commercial Property board had been considering a managed wind-down of the company among its strategic options, but said the offer from Starwood was superior.

"The BCPT board believes the acquisition compares favourably to the risk-adjusted returns that may be generated by other strategic options," it said in a statement, "with the acquisition representing both an acceleration of the timing of returns, and an improvement on the expected net present value, to be delivered pursuant to a managed wind-down."

By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor

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