PDL +18.08%: the fund manager received a takeover bid from competitor Perpetual (PPT) which sent the stock surging today. Perpetual’s non-binding indicative bid offered 1 PPT share for every 7.5 PDL, as well as $1.67/share in cash, which was a 39% premium based on where both shares closed on Friday, though it only takes it back to where Pendal was trading in November last year. While framed as a takeover, Pendal shareholders would end up with 48% of the company in what looks to be more of a merger of near equals.
Fund managers as a whole have been under pressure from a share price perspective but Perpetual has largely outperformed, likely due to its move diversified business that includes private advice and corporate trust arms supporting the valuation. Pendal seemed defensive in their response, and rightly so. The bid has no premium to the 180-day weighted average price and comes at a time when global assets and their managers are dealing with plenty of volatility, they wouldn’t want to give Perpetual a look under the hood without more concrete guarantees.
