Currys takeover off as JD.com walks away from bid

Chinese retail giant JD.com has joined Waterstones owner Elliott in confirming that it will not be making an offer to buy Currys.

The update comes after the electrical retailer turned down a £700m bid from Elliott Advisors back in February on the grounds that it undervalued the company before rejecting a second £750m takeover from the activist investor a few days later.

Stakeholders in the business have since said they want a minimum of £1bn for the group.


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JO Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM) UK Equity Income fund, which is a top 10 shareholder, said an offer between 80p and 100p per share would be “acceptable”.

A 90p per share offer would value the electricals retailer at around £1bn, The Standard reported.

The JOHCM UK equity income fund said it believed the value of the deal compared to the size of the retailer’s sales showed the current “absurdity” of the UK stock market.

Last week, the electricals retailer completed the sale of its Greek business Kotsovolos to electricity supplier Public Power Corporation (PPC) following regulatory approval.

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