SVG in talks with other bidders, says board

Reiterating the stance of SVG's board that shareholders should reject HarbourVest's hostile takeover offer, SVG chair Andrew Sykes said: "We are in detailed discussions with a number of credible parties, which may lead to an alternative transaction delivering superior shareholder value to the final offer from HarbourVest Bidco at 650 pence. We will update shareholders on the status of these discussions on or before 3 October 2016."

HarbourVest's £1.02bn final offer, made earlier in September, will expire on 6 October at 1pm GMT. In response to SVG's claim of talks with competing bidders, HarbourVest said in a statement: "There can be no certainty that a formal offer will be made by any other party for SVG Capital," in contrast with the fund-of-funds manager's own bid.

The private equity investor also claimed SVG's assertion that HarbourVest's offer represented a 16.5% discount on the former's investment portfolio as of 31 July 2016 was misleading because "excluding the cash for the purposes of calculating the discount is inappropriate in the context of a vehicle such as SVG Capital". HarbourVest reiterated its initial view that its bid represented a 10.6% discount to SVG's net asset value.

SVG's board once again urged shareholders to reject the unsolicited offer, while HarbourVest urged shareholders to accept it.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• LPs
• Performance
• SVG Capital
• HarbourVest