By Charlie Conchie
Liontrust has backed down on a key condition of its offer for Swiss rival GAM today after facing resistance from a rival group of shareholders on its offer.
The London-listed asset manager launched a bid for ailing fund manager GAM earlier this year but has been engaged in a spat with a group of shareholders who have rejected an “exit condition” relating to GAM’s fund management services (FMS) business.
The terms of the original offer meant a sale of the loss-making FMS business was required before any takeover went ahead.
However, in a statement today, Liontrust has agreed to waive the term in its offer and extended its deadline for accepting the offer by three days.
“During the extension to the deadline we are announcing today, GAM shareholders will have time to consider further the Proposed Acquisition and Liontrust’s latest announcements,” Liontrust said in a statement.
“It is in the best interests of GAM shareholders and clients that there is immediate corporate and financial stability, which we believe Liontrust’s offer delivers.”
The move to back down on the exit term in the offer comes after Liontrust has come under fire from a Swiss investor group NewGAMe for undervaluing the firm and including the clause in its offer for the company.
GAM has already struck a deal to sell its FMS business in Luxembourg and Switzerland to Carne Group which is on track to complete in the final three months of the year.
NewGAMe launched a counter bid for the company last week but GAM has doubled down on its support for the Liontrust offer.
In a statement today, GAM said the rival bidder’s proposals “ignore business realities and do not provide a credible path forward.”
