Beale to accept cut-price takeover offer from Perloff

Department store operator Beales has reluctantly accepted a takeover offer from property entrepreneur Andrew Perloff.Perloff, who along with his family owns 29.72% of Beales, has offered 6p a share in cash, a 48% discount to Friday's close of 11.5p.The offer, which is carried out through a new vehicle called English Rose, values Beales at £1.23m and came only six months after the department store group and Perloff engaged in a public feud.The row originated as the firm tried to raise additional capital but could not do so without the agreement of Perloff and his associates. At the time, Perloff criticised the firm for evicting Simon Peters, the other representative of Panther's, Perloff's other business, from its board.Beales said the offer was disappointing, though circumstances meant it had to accept the bid."In different circumstances [the board] could have achieved a price that would value the business and assets of Beales more fully," the firm said in a statement on Monday."However the complex capital structure inherited by the current Beales board imposes a number of restrictions of Beales' ability to fund its activities, including the requirement for the concert party [Perloff and family] to agree to any of the alternative funding options the board has identified."As a result Beales may be unable to generate sufficient cash flows to meet its financial commitments in the future."Therefore the board [...] intends to unanimously recommend that Beales shareholders accept the offer."Beale shares plummeted 46.96% to 6.10p at 14:27 on Monday.