Sumitomo joins four-way race for Australia's FleetPartners with US$582mil bid
KUALA LUMPUR: FleetPartners said on Wednesday it had received an A$813.1 million (US$582.3 million) takeover bid from a consortium led by Japan’s Sumitomo, turning the contest for the Australian vehicle leasing company into a four-way battle.
FleetPartners, Australia's largest vehicle leasing provider, found itself at the center of a bidding war after receiving a US$582.3 million takeover offer from a consortium led by Japan's Sumitomo. The move has turned the competition into a four-way battle with other interested parties joining the fray.
Sumitomo's consortium, comprising trading house Sumitomo and Sumitomo Mitsui Auto Service (SMAS), has proposed to pay FleetPartners shareholders A$3.85 per share, a 34% premium to the stock's closing price on July 31. This bid exceeds the US$3.80 per share offer from ORIX and the A$3.80 per share proposal from Element Fleet. However, it falls short of SG Fleet's A$4.00 per share bid, which the PEP-backed company raised two weeks ago following an initial approach that was rejected.
Despite the initial strong reaction, with FleetPartners' shares surging nearly 50% in just over three weeks, the market responded cautiously to the latest bid. Shares of the company slipped 0.2% in early trade to A$4.23 following the announcement, which came as it had a market capitalisation of A$904.4 million. This value surpasses the sum offered by all four competing bidders.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
