Berenberg downgrades Aveva to 'hold'

Berenberg said Schneider has now officially bid £31.0 per share for the Aveva minorities, valuing the company at £9.4bn and the roughly 41% of minorities it does not already own at £3.9bn.

However, Berenberg believes the bid valuation not only fails to fully reflect Aveva's true potential but stated it was also lower than it had initally expected.

With that in mind, the German bank also highlighted that based on the current level of "shareholder fatigue", resulting from a material de-rating of Aveva's share price in the past 12 months as well as a potential re-rating from successful business model transitions that could take as long as two years, it is probable that shareholders will likely opt to cash in and give up on future upside potentials and risks.

Berenberg raised its target price on the stock from 2,800.0p to 3,113.0p to factor in the offer.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com