Dee Valley said in a statement that it intends to make a further announcement about the future of the company following the court’s decision. The court hearing, which will rule on whether a proposed acquisition of the company has been fairly decided, was adjourned yesterday (25 January) and will resume at 2:00pm today (26 January).
Severn Trent made a bid to buy Dee Valley on 23 November 2016 which was accepted in principle by the water only company.
An earlier offer by the company had valued Dee Valley at £78.5 million, but this was topped by infrastructure investment manager Ancala, which made a rival offer 1 pence per share higher after close on 22 November 2016.
However, approval of Severn Trent’s final acquisition offer was postponed on 13 January amid confusion caused by an unidentified buyer purchasing 445 Dee Valley shares and redistributing them to a number of individuals.
According to Dee Valley, 87 per cent voted in favour of the scheme. But, if the transferred shares had been accepted in the vote, the proposal would have been rejected by 56 per cent of shareholders.
Immediately following this news, Ancala announced that its bid, which it sees as “a proposition which benefits all stakeholders of Dee Valley”, can remain open for acceptances while the court determines the final outcome of the vote.
However, Dee Valley has advised that shareholders “do not take any further action in respect of the Ancala revised proposal until the court’s determination as to whether or not to sanction the scheme has been announced”.