Segro to buy Tritax EuroBox in $1.44 bln European warehousing deal
Deal could trigger bidding war with Brookfield Asset Management
All-share offer implies Tritax EuroBox valued at 68.4p/share
Segro's purchase backed by Tritax's board
Adds Balanced Commercial Property Trust deal in paragraph 6, background on sector deals in paragraph 5
Sept 4 (Reuters) -British warehouse owner Segro SGRO.L will buy Tritax EuroBox EBOX.L in a deal valuing the European logistics real estate firm at about 1.10 billion pounds ($1.44 billion) including debt, the companies said on Wednesday.
The deal could ignite a bidding war for Tritax EuroBox, which has been in talks with Canada's Brookfield Asset Management BAM.TO about a possible deal.
Tritax's properties span seven countries in mainland Europe, focusing on logistics and distribution supply chains, serving clients in the manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, retail, and e-commerce sectors.
Shares in Tritax, which have rallied more than 24% since Brookfield's interest was made public in early June, rose marginally on Wednesday to 66.7 pence. Segro shares slipped 1.8%.
There has been a flurry of deals for UK-listed companies this year, including in the commercial real estate space, such as the $1.2 billion purchase of UK Commercial Property byTritax Big Box BBOXT.L, the UK-focused publicly traded fund of the Tritax group, and LondonMetric's LMPL.L deal for LXI.
On Wednesday, private equity firm Starwood Funds agreed to buy London-listed Balanced Commercial Property Trust (BCPT) BCPT.L for 673.5 million pounds. BCPT's shares soared 9%.
Segro's planned purchase of Tritax comes as it is seeing its UK property values increase for the first time since 2022. The British firm said the deal would complement its existing assets in Europe.
The all-share transaction, which has the backing of Tritax's board, implies a deal value of about 68.4 pence per share, a nearly 3% premium to the target's closing price on Tuesday.
Tritax shareholders would get 0.0765 new Segro shares as part of the deal.
The company said it had fielded interest from a number of other parties, and believes that a deal with Segro represented a compelling opportunity for an immediate uplift in value for its shareholders.
Tritax EuroBox's shares had been struggling over the past three years, losing nearly half of their value from an all time high reached in 2021. The company had been exploring strategic options in April, including a managed wind down and a significant share buyback funded by disposals.
Brookfield Asset Management has until Sept. 23 to make a formal offer for Tritax EuroBox or walk away.
($1 = 0.7630 pounds)
Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Shanima A in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Varun H K; Editing by Sharon Singleton
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