Intu concedes to ending Hammerson offer period

Shopping mall owner Intu Properties has bowed to the inevitable and admitted that it believes there is now "no realistic prospect" that its takeover will be approved by shareholders of larger suitor Hammerson, bringing the offer period to an end.

Last week Hammerson's board had a change of heart and withdrew its recommendation that its shareholders vote in favour of its previous £3.4bn offer for Intu, blaming problems in the UK retail market and opposition among some shareholders.

Hammerson has since confirmed that it will not exercise any rights it may have to implement the Intu acquisition by way of a contractual takeover offer and without the recommendation of the Hammerson board, Intu conceded that it is "unlikely" that its shareholders would support the deal.

While still believing the deal made sense for its shareholders, Intu's board believes that "it is in the best interests of its shareholders, employees and other intu stakeholders for the situation to now be resolved" and so has decided not to proceed with posting the scheme of arrangement documents to its shareholders and withdrawing its recommendation of deal.

Intu directors therefore consented to the Takeover Panel releasing Hammerson from its obligations under the takeover code to proceed with the deal, meaning the offer period will end, preventing Hammerson from making any offer for intu without the consent of the Takeover Panel for a period of 12 months.

Intu also highlighted its own trading update on 17 April that reported a strong first quarter.