Funeral director Dignity (LON: DTY) has rejected bid offers from a consortium involving major shareholder Phoenix Asset Management, but the latest offer could be acceptable.
The initial offer of 475p a share in cash was rejected, and this was followed by offers of 500p a share and 510p a share.
These were all rejected and a revised proposal of 525p a share in cash has been made for fully listed Dignity, which could be accepted by the board. There could be an alternative offer that includes shares in the unquoted bid vehicle or in Guernsey-based, Specialist Fund Segment-listed Castelnau Group Ltd (LON: CGL), where the share price has fallen by one-third to 69p over the past year. The October 2021 issue price was 100p. Phoenix Asset Management is the manager of Castelnau, which has investments in Aquis-quoted Silverwood Brands (LON: SLWD), Hornby (LON: HRN) and Stanley Gibbons.
The Dignity share price jumped 109.5p to 535p. This is the highest the share price has been since April 2022. Eighteen months ago the share price was above 900p.
Phoenix Asset Management owns 29.7% of Dignity. The bid vehicle is Yellow (SPC) Bidco Ltd, which is a joint venture between Castelnau, which is managed by former Dignity chief executive Gary Channon, and company established by Sir Peter Wood. Due diligence is ongoing.