360 Capital Group has put a hurdle of in the way of NextDC's bid to acquire Asia Pacific Data Centre by offering a new competing bid.
The investment firm increased its offer to buy the remaining shares in the property trust that it doesn't already own from $1.80 per share to $1.95, valuing APDC at approximately $222 million. APDC already owns 19.8 percent of APDC shares, compared to NextDC's 20.77 percent stake.
The new offer consists of a $0.65 per share capital distribution, plus $1.30 in cash. It is still incomplete, and conditional based on APDC's directors agreeing to a scheme implementation agreement.
360 Capital's new proposal represents a 3.7 premium over NextDC's offer of $1.87 per share in cash, and values the company at $10 million more.
APDC is a property trust that was spun off from NextDC four years ago and is listed on the ASX. The trust's sole assets are three data centres occupied by NextDC, Sydney (S1), Melbourne (M1) and Perth (P1).
NextDC and 360 Capital have been struggling for ownership of the trust since May. The investment firm plans to use the trust as a launch pad for further investment in the Asia-Pacific data centre market, while NextDC said an acquisition was in line with its strategy to own more of its data centres.
APDC's directors said on Monday that they would unanimously recommend shareholders agree to NextDC's offer in the absence of a better proposal. After 360 Capital's latest offer, APDC said that receiving the proposal doesn't necessarily mean it will change its recommendation, and that aspects of the proposal are likely to require support from NextDC.
APDC will provide shareholders with further updates after considering 360 Capital's proposal.
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