KKR facing fightback against £1.3bn Smart Metering Systems bid
The founders of energy infrastructure firm Smart Metering Systems have mounted a fight back against a takeover by KKR today on the grounds the £1.3bn bid undervalues the firm.
The board of London-listed Smart Metering Systems waved through a bid by US buyout giant KKR earlier this month, making it one of 36 firms to agree to be taken into private hands this year.
The 955 pence-per-share all-cash offer represented a premium of some 40 per cent to the London-listed stock’s close the day before.
However, the founders of the firm, Alan Foy and Steve Timone, along with shareholder Primestone, who cumulatively hold around 17.8 per cent of the company, have today announced they will reject the deal on the grounds it undervalues the company.
“PrimeStone and the Founders are disappointed with the Offer Price and intend to vote against […] the Offer,” they said in a joint statement.
Shares in the firm fell four per cent today following the news.
Smart Metering Systems is one of scores of firms to have fallen into the sights of private buyers this year, as private equity firms and cashed-up corporates look to capitalise on cheap listed firms in London.
A flurry of take-private deals were struck in the second half of the year and lawyers in the City are predicted activity is likely to pick up in the new year.
“The last few months of 2023 have seen a flurry of public company takeovers,” James Parkes, a corporate Partner with law firm CMS told City PM.
“We are seeing this trend continue into the new year as undeployed ‘dry powder’ from financial sponsors, and the continuing depressed sentiment towards the UK capital markets combines to create a fertile ground for bid activity.”