Swedish real estate company Balder Ab announced on Tuesday that it has acquired the Norwegian company Entra, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
On Tuesday, Balder bought 610,059 shares in Entra, which means the Swedish company now has an ownership stake of 33.67 percent. As a result, Balder will make a mandatory bid for all Entra shareholders.
When buying more than a third of the vote in a company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the bid commitment is triggered. This means that the buyer is obligated to give the remaining shareholders of the company an offer to purchase their shares.
Bids will be a minimum of 36.86 billion.
The mandatory bid must be at least 202.5 NOK per share, the highest price Balder has paid for Entra shares in the past six months, adjusted for the dividend paid in October 2021. To 36.86 billion NOK.
In contrast, Entra had a market capitalization of 35.3 billion on the stock exchange on Tuesday. When the Oslo Stock Exchange closed on Tuesday, Entra shares were trading for 193.90 NOK. Entra’s share is down 6.6 percent in the past three months, but is up more than 50 percent in the past year.
Earlier in October, DNB Markets lowered its price target rating on Entra’s stock to NOK 185 from the previous NOK 190.
It is preferable that Entra is listed on the stock exchange
Since the end of last year, Balder has bought shares in Entra. When the Swedish company’s ownership exceeded five percent in Entra last year, Balder CEO Erik Selin said it had no intention of bidding for the entire Norwegian company.
The stock exchange’s announcement by Balder on Tuesday states that it still favors the listing of Entra on the Oslo Stock Exchange, but at the same time it is required to increase the ownership stake.
We prefer Entra to continue as a company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is well managed, has a good real estate portfolio and good management that will over time create value for the stakeholders of the company. We consider Entra a good long-term investment and do not intend to bid for the entire company, Celine told TDN Direkt in December last year.
Swedish Bidding War
Earlier this fall, it was announced that Swedish real estate company Castellum had bought Folketrygdfondet shares in Entra. After the deal, Castellum also owns more than 30 percent of the shares in Entra.
Previously, there was an intense bidding war between Castellum and another Swedish real estate company, SBB.
In June, SBB chose to give up its remaining shares in the Norwegian real estate company. On June 14, news came that SBB had sold all of its shares in Entra to Castellum.
The two Swedish real estate companies Castellum and Balder are thus Entra’s largest shareholders.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We want you to share our cases using a link that leads directly to our pages. All or part of the Content may not be copied or otherwise used with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
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