Senior rejects Lone Star’s £840m take-private bid

Aerospace engineer Senior has rejected private equity firm Lone Star’s £838.8m final takeover offer, it announced this afternoon.

The firm’s board said that the offer “continues to fundamentally undervalue Senior and its future prospects”.

Lone Star said that the offer, which priced the Rickmansworth-based firm’s stock at 200p per share, was its fifth and final bid.

Senior chair Ian King said: “We view this final conditional proposal as highly opportunistic given the timing and the relative share price weakness, coming at a point where our end-markets are showing signs of recovery.

“Senior has been resilient through the pandemic and is well-positioned to emerge strongly as the recovery continues. The proposal still fundamentally undervalues Senior.

“The Board believes we have a clear strategy that will maximise value for shareholders over the medium-term and accordingly, the Board is not able to recommend a sale of the business at 200p per share.”

Last month Peel Hunt analysts said that it was unlikely that an offer would be accepted.

However, it added that there was a “window for a deal to be done” at 200p, the Lone Star’s final offer price.

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