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- Carlyle Group is having another crack at taking control of ASX-listed Link Administration (LNK) with a $2.8 billion takeover offer launched today
- Carlyle is offering $5.38 per Link share for full control of the business — a 24.2 per cent premium to Link’s last closing price of $4.33
- Last year, Carlyle teamed up with Pacific Partners to lob a $2.76 billion bid for full control of Link, but Link rejected the offer
- Today, Link said it would consider the newest Carlyle proposal, but the ASX 200-lister told shareholders to not take any action just yet
- Shares in Link Administration were up 11.09 per cent and trading at $4.81 at 10:25 am AEDT
Multi-billion-dollar investment firm Carlyle Group is having another crack at taking control of ASX-listed Link Administration (LNK), with a $2.8 billion takeover offer launched today.
The news has seen Link shares spike over 10 per cent in early trading action.
Through privately managed fund Carlyle Asia Partners, Carlyle Group is offering $3 per Link share on top of a pro-rata distribution of Link’s PEXA Group (PEX) shareholding for full control of the Australian money manager.
This offer effectively values Link at $5.38 per share, or just over $2.8 billion — a 24.2 per cent premium to Link’s last closing price of $4.33.
Of course, this is not the first time Carlyle has lobbed a takeover bid Link’s way.
In October 2020, Carlyle and Pacific Partners offered $2.76 billion for full control of Link; an offer which, at the time, valued Link shares at a 30.3 per cent premium to Link’s market value.
Link, however, shot down the offer, claiming it materially undervalued the businesses and was not in the best interests of shareholders. Link similarly rebuffed a follow-up revised offer from the investment firms.
Two months after the initial Carlyle bid, Link received a $3 billion takeover offer from SS&C Technology. Link rejected this offer, too, claiming it was not compelling enough.
SS&C withdrew its proposal a month later, in January 2021.
Today, Link said it would consider the newest Carlyle proposal, but the ASX 200-lister told shareholders to not take any action just yet regarding the Carlyle bid.
Link has suspended its planned $150 million share buyback program in light of the Carlyle offer. So far, Link has bought back $101.7 million worth of shares under the program.
Shares in Link Administration were up 11.09 per cent and trading at $4.81 at 10:25 am AEDT. The company has a $2.5 billion market cap.
