Brookfield has launched a £557 million counter bid for logistics investor Tritax EuroBox.
The Canadian investor is offering shareholders 69 pence in cash per share, 6% more than an earlier implied offer from UK REIT Segro, which had offered shareholders new Segro shares. The acquisition values Tritax EuroBox at £557 million, whereas Segro’s bid valued the company at £552 million, as reported.
Brookfield said that Tritax EuroBox had traded at a persistent discount to net asset value, which limited its ability to grow, in particular from further equity capital raises. Brookfield believes that Tritax will benefit from being part of a “scaled, better capitalised and actively growing real estate platform”.
While the two offers are not far apart, the Tritax EuroBox board has withdrawn its support for the Segro bid and recommended the offer from Brookfield as cash provides increased certainty.
"The board of Tritax EuroBox remains intensely focused on delivering value for Tritax EuroBox shareholders,” said Robert Orr, chairman of Tritax Eurobox. “The cash offer from Brookfield represents a premium to the current value of the Segro offer and ensures that Tritax EuroBox shareholders will benefit from a significant uplift over the undisturbed value of their investment with flexibility to reinvest as they see fit."
Brad Hyler, head of real estate in Europe at Brookfield said: “These assets are complementary to our existing portfolio and, using our global real estate expertise, we will actively manage these assets, provide access to capital, help build new relationships with our network of tenants and support the overall growth of the platform."
Tritax EuroBox is a specialist investor in high-quality, Continental European logistics real estate with a portfolio of 1.5 million square metres of space (16.2 million square feet) valued at approximately €1.5 billion as of 31 March 2024.