AUSTRALIA: Ingenia Communities Group received a takeover proposal from AVID Property Group for A$2.2 billion (US$1.54 billion), sending the Australian property developer's shares to their highest close in nine months.
Ingenia, which develops and operates communities offering rental and holiday accommodation, has already received three bids from Warburg Pincus, sending its shares up more than 35 per cent since the first offer in September. The stock jumped as much as 9.1 per cent on Monday before closing up 5.0 per cent at A$5.
AVID's bid to buy all Ingenia shares at A$5.4 is higher than Warburg Pincus' latest offer of A$5.25 apiece and at a 13.4 per cent premium to Friday's closing price.
The Ingenia board has decided to enter into a process deed with AVID and give it a period of "soft exclusivity" of up to six weeks, the company said, terminating Warburg Pincus' access to its data room. Last week, Ingenia set an October 23 deadline to sign a process deed with Warburg Pincus.
