UPDATE: Pageant rejects board-supported takeover of Irish Continental

Pageant Investments Ltd on Tuesday said it voted against the proposed acquisition of Irish Continental Group PLC by Bluefin Bidco Ltd, highlighting that it views the share price of Irish Continental as undervalued.

Bluefin's cash offer values the Dublin-based ferry operator at EUR1.2 billion, or EUR8.00 per share, a 28% premium to its EUR6.24 closing share price on July 24, the day Bluefin made its offer.

Irish Continental's independent board recommended earlier on Tuesday that shareholders vote in favour of the takeover at the extraordinary general meeting on August 28.

The board said it rejected arguments made by Oxy Capital last Thursday, which said that the offer undervalued Irish Continental by up to 39%, with Oxy adding that the timing of the offer was "highly opportunistic".

Oxy has a stake of around 1.4% in Irish Continental.

Pageant Investments, which has a stake of around 2% in Irish Continental, said the proposed price of EUR8.00 per share was "an unreasonable discount to our assessment of fair value."

Further, it said: "We regard ICG as a strategic infrastructure asset of national importance. It has valuable assets, a strong market position and an established record of resilience through Brexit, Covid-19 and, more recently, the significant disruption caused by the closure of Holyhead Port."

It added: "The independent board itself acknowledges that ICG's public market rating has not fully reflected the underlying performance of the business, while the management buyout team has stated that the public market valuation has not fully reflected the quality of ICG's assets, its market position and its financial performance or its long-term prospects.

"We therefore question the relevance of using a premium to that same acknowledged undervalued share price as a principal measure of value."

ICG shares fell 2.3% to EUR7.68 each on Tuesday afternoon in Dublin, while trading 1.9% lower at 665.00 pence each in London.

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