G4S backs out of ISS deal

The £5.2bn trade sale, announced in mid-October, was the latest of several attempts to exit the company.

The deal was contingent upon attracting 75% support from shareholders in G4S. Although a shareholder meeting was to take place in a few days, G4S and co-investors FS Invest have decided to terminate the agreement.

G4S chairman Alf Duch-Pedersen commented that shareholders had raised concerns with regards to the scale and complexity of the acquisition and macro-economic uncertainty.

ISS owners EQT and GS Capital Partners first took the company off the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in March 2005. Two unsuccessful IPOs were attempted in 2007 and in 2008.

The investors entered exclusive talks with Apax in late 2010 following an $8.5bn offer, but the talks were scrapped in early 2011. It was believed at the time that the investors were considering an IPO more profitable, but these plans were postponed in March 2011.

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