| Macquarie has taken the unusual step of making a public and hostile takeover bid for a listed company, the European waste management group Renewi, only to be firmly rebuffed.
The potential offer of £7.75 a share represented a premium of more than 50 per cent to the pre-bid share price, according to Macquarie. Under British takeover law, Macquarie has until October 26 to turn its proposed offer into a firm bid, unless Renewi extends the time period. Unsurprisingly, Renewi’s share price surged after the bid went public. Within an hour, it had bolted from £5.10 to £7.07, and on Friday the stock closed at £7.37. This cut the premium in Macquarie’s offer to just 5 per cent, but may signal shareholder expectation that the deal will go through.