In September, Beauparc owner Macquarie said it is submitted an offer of 775 pence per Renewi share, which it said was a premium of approximately 52% and valued the company at £636 million.
Renewi instantly responded to the plans, saying the offer undervalued the company (see letsrecycle.com story).
Beauparc had argued that the offer was fair, in part because of the number of onerous contracts Renewi holds, including many in the UK market, which Renewi has since announced it is considering exiting (see letsrecycle.com story).
In a statement last Thursday (26 October), Macquarie confirmed that following “multiple attempts to engage with Renewi’s Board”, including a rejected revised proposal worth around £665 million, the group “does not feel it is in an informed position to make an offer for Renewi”.
Macquarie said it will now not make a request to the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets to approve an offer document related to an offer for Renewi.
The board conveyed to Macquarie that formal engagement was possible, subject to price
- Renewi
‘Unsolicited’
In response to Macquarie’s statement, Renewi published its own response the same day which it said was published “without Macquarie’s consent”.
This described the initial offer in September as “an unsolicited and highly conditional non-binding all-cash proposal” which “fundamentally undervalued Renewi and its prospects”.
Renewi also confirmed the value of the revised proposal received on 25 October, which it said stood at 810 pence per share.
Renewi said its board “carefully assessed this revised proposal with its advisers and also considered the recent feedback it had received from Renewi shareholders”.
The statement added: “The board rejected this revised proposal on the basis that it continued to fundamentally undervalue Renewi and its prospects. In doing so, and reflecting that the board is open to all means of maximising shareholder value, the board conveyed to Macquarie that formal engagement was possible, subject to price.
“ However, the price level of the revised proposal did not provide a basis to provide Macquarie with access to due diligence.
“The board remains confident in the company’s future prospects as a pure play market leader in Europe’s most advanced recycling markets and remains committed to delivering on its strategy to realise attractive profitable growth.”
UK market
In response to a planned takeover offer from Macquarie last week (see letsrecycle.com story), Renewi set out its reasonings for why it would reject the offer.
This included revealing its ongoing “comprehensive review” of its UK municipal business, which includes six contracts: Argyll and Bute, Barnsley Doncaster and Rotherham, Cumbria, East London, Elstow and Wakefield.
Renewi posted a loss of €9.2 million (£7.9 million) on its UK municipal contracts in its 2021/22 financial results, down from £16.5 million the previous year. The UK municipal segment for Renewi has been loss-making for a number of years.
Subscribe for free