A pair of real estate investment trusts are battling to take over the Abrdn Property Income Trust.
The £260mn fund was forced to cancel a shareholder vote on a proposed takeover by Custodian Reit to consider a rival offer from Urban Logistics SHED Reit on Thursday (February 22).
Urban Logistics’ offer is 13 per cent more than that of Custodian and worth 59.2p per share – it would boost Urban Logistics’ £768mn portfolio by almost £450mn.
The Custodian offer, tabled in January, valued the shares at 52.4p.
In a further update on Thursday afternoon (February 22) Custodian revealed two major shareholders had withdrawn their support for the takeover.
A stock exchange update said Brooks Macdonald Asset Management and Wise Funds Limited have withdrawn their intent to vote for the Custodian deal, representing 4.5 per cent of the share capital.
David MacLellan, chairman of the Reit, said: “We acknowledge the Abrdn Property Income board’s requirement for time to assess the potential options.
“We firmly believe that the rational conclusion of this assessment would be to maintain its recommendation for the all-share merger with Custodian Property Income Reit.
“This will benefit both sets of shareholders by creating a well-positioned Reit of enhanced scale, with the opportunity to participate in the returns from the two complementary portfolios, with a fully covered and sustainable dividend.”
The general meeting Abrdn Property Income Fund shareholders planned for February 28 is now expected to take place on March 20.
An update added: “A further announcement will be made by the Aberdeen Property Income board in due course, updating shareholders on the board’s assessment.
“In the meantime, shareholders are advised to take no action in relation to the possible offer from Urban Logistics.”
tara.o’connor@ft.com
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