Avant Homes said to have tabled secret takeover offer for Crest Nicholson

Crest Nicholson surged on Friday following a report that Avant Homes, which is owned by investment firm Elliott Advisors, has tabled a secret takeover offer for housebuilder.

According to Sky News, Avant Homes - run by former Persimmon chief Jeff Fairburn - made an all-share proposal to the board of Crest last month.

The bid, which City sources said had been rejected by Crest's board in the last ten days, would have seen Elliott become the biggest shareholder in the combined group, according to insiders.

One source told Sky the combination risked representing an unattractive prospect for some Crest Nicholson shareholders. Avant's interest comes weeks after Crest rejected a bid from Bellway, another London-listed housebuilder, that would have valued the target at about £665m.

Bellway now has a deadline set by the Takeover Panel to make a formal offer for Crest of next Thursday.

It is unclear if it intends to submit a revised offer.

Last month, Crest said: "The board of Crest Nicholson evaluated the revised proposal with its financial advisers and concluded that it significantly undervalued Crest Nicholson and its future standalone prospects and was not in the best interests of Crest Nicholson's shareholders.

"The board therefore unanimously rejected the revised proposal on 14 May 2024."

At 1025 BST, the shares were up 10% at 269p.