EU clears Greene King acquisition

(Sharecast News) - Greene King said on Thursday that the European Commission has cleared its £2.7bn takeover by Hong Kong's CK Asset Holdings.
Shares of the London-listed pub group surged in August after it agreed to be bought by a subsidiary of CK Asset Holdings, the flagship of the CK Hutchison Group, for 850p a share in cash.

The offer, which implies an enterprise value of £4.6bn for Greene King, is a premium of about 51% to the closing share price the day before it was made and was deemed by the company's directors to be "fair and reasonable".

Chairman Philip Yea said at the time: "The Greene King board is confident in the long term prospects of the business but believes this offer represents a good opportunity for shareholders to realise value for their investment at an attractive premium, while also ensuring the future success of Greene King for employees, partners, customers and suppliers."

At 1310 BST, the shares were up 0.2% at 849p.