Vistry swoops in with £1.25bn bid for rival Countryside
Housebuilders Vistry and Countryside are expected to push ahead with a £1.25bn merger, the boards of both companies said today.
The cash and shares offer is based upon Vistry’s closing share price of 741p as of 2 September, and represents a more than nine per cent premium on Countryside’s closing price of 228p on the same day.
Countryside has been scouting for buyers since mid-June, according to a regulatory filing at the time.
The housebuilder rejected a £1.5bn proposal from US firm and third-largest shareholder Inclusive Capital, having rejected two unsolicited and “conditional” bids in late May.
Countryside has undergone considerable changes since the beginning of the year, when chief executive Ian McPherson stepped down following a weak financial update.
Then in July, chairman John Martin – who had been acting chief executive – stepped down from the company with “immediate effect”. Replacing him as non-executive chairman was Douglas Hurt, who had been promoted from senior independent director.
“The deals ‘feels’ like a natural home for the troubled Countryside business considering that Vistry is one of the few housebuilders that operates a partnership division at scale,” director of investment research group Edison, Andy Murphy, said today.
“Furthermore, under Greg Fitzgerald the group has experience of combining businesses having previously bought the Linden Homes business from Galliford in recent years.”
The combined company is expected to generate at least £50m of synergies, with the group benefiting from three brands; Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Countryside’s Partnership operation.