DTZ agrees new £10m facility as SGP takeover talks end
Saint George Participations today confirmed that its talks with DTZ have ended and that it will not be making an offer. The French group, the largest shareholder in DTZ, had made an approach in May. It was thought to have been planning to take the company private and merge it with BNP Paribas Real Estate.
DTZ, which said “the external environment has contrived to prevent the considerable efforts of many people over the past months to consummate a transaction,” said it welcomed the renewed support of SGP and its bankers RBS, with which it has agreed a new £10m revolving credit facility. The company said it was now reviewing its strategic options, but DTZ’s new chief executive John Forrester told Property Week that the company would not be pursuing a break-up.
The Times says SGP and DTZ had talked about a deal at 60p per share, which would have valued the business at around £200m, but that the global market volatility had discouraged BNP Paribas from doing a deal. The paper also says it is understood that other DTZ shareholders, including CY Leung, did not want to sell their stakes. It says that other interested parties may now step forward.
