Currys has rejected a second, higher bid from US hedge fund Elliott Advisors as potential takeover suitors continue to circle the electricals retailer.
The FTSE 250 firm told investors on Tuesday afternoon it had rejected a 67p bid from Elliot on the grounds the proposal ‘significantly undervalued’ the firm.
Elliott now has until 5pm on 16 March to announce its intentions and make another offer for Currys.
Currys shares were were flat in afternoon trading on Tuesday at 66.7p.
Bidding war heats up as Elliott makes second, higher bid
The group’s share have been buoyed by last week’s rejection of Elliott’s initial 62p-a-share bid, which was quickly followed by speculation that Chinese retail giant JD.com was preparing to make a bid.
A former private secretary to Prince Andrew, Amanda Thirsk, is said to playing a key role with JD.com in a possible bid for Currys.
JD.com, which is listed on the Nasdaq and Hong Kong, has not yet launched a takeover approach for Currys.
Founded in 2004, JD.com is one of China’s two main e-commerce retailers alongside AliBaba-owned TMall and reported nearly $150billion in revenue last year.
Bidding rival Elliott’s proposal would have represented a premium of about 30 per cent on Currys’ closing share price on Friday last week, but its latest offer is on par with Monday’s closing price.
Major Currys shareholder Redwheel has pushed back against a potential offer, particularly at Elliot’s current valuation.
Ian Lance, co-head of Redwheel’s UK value and income team, said the offer highlighted ‘a wider problem with the UK equity market which no longer seems to fulfil its primary purpose of price discovery and efficient capital allocation’.
Analysts at Peel Hunt think Currys is unlikely to consider any bid less than 80p a share.
