Perform Group mulling £700m takeover bid by Len Blavatnik

Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik’s investment group Access Industries said yesterday it is planning to buy out the remaining stake in Perform Group that it does not already control, in a deal that would value the London-listed internet sports distribution firm at £701.6m.

 

Perform, which floated in 2011, saw its shares soar 26.35 per cent in trading following the offer to close up at 257.5p yesterday, despite it urging that shareholders take no action in response to the offer.

 

Access Industries, a privately held industrial group with investments in natural resources, chemicals, real estate and media, including Warner Music Group, said the offer of 260p per share was final. Premium TV Group, part of Access, already owns around 42.6 per cent of Perform’s stock.

 

“We continue to have confidence in Perform’s management and in the company’s future potential,” said Lincoln Benet, chief executive of Access Industries.

 

“Consequently, a member of our group is launching an offer at 260p per share, a 27.6 per cent premium to the current price, to allow those shareholders who seek an exit to do so at a significant premium to the current trading level.”

 

Perform buys online rights to major sports events and supplies video clips, live action and sports news and data to media groups and online bookmakers.

 

1 Blavatnik is the fourth-richest person in the UK, according to the Sunday Times rich list, with a fortune estimated at £10bn.

 

2 He owns Warner Music, which he bought for $3.3bn in 2011, and added Parlophone for $765m, which gave him access to back catalogues of bands like Radiohead and Pink Floyd. 

 

3 Blavatnik launched the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford in 2010 after donating £75m for the foundation of the school.

 

4 He owns a 13-bedroom Grade II-listed mansion in Kensington Palace Garden, which he bought for £41m in 2004.

 

5 Blavatnik was born in 1957 in Odessa, Ukraine. He currently holds American citizenship.