Melrose increases offer for Britain’s GKN to £7.4 b

Bengaluru

Turnaround specialists Melrose raised on Wednesday its offer for GKN to 430.1 pence per share or £7.4 billion ($10.2 billion) after meeting the British engineering company’s shareholders.

US activist investor Elliott Advisors has urged GKN to talk with Melrose after the company rebuffed a 405 pence per share cash-and-stock offer this month. Melrose appealed directly to GKN’s investors to back its earlier £7 billion takeover offer after GKN’s board rejected it. On Wednesday, Melrose made a firm, higher cash-and-stock offer valuing each GKN share at 430.1 pence, based on Melrose’s closing price of 234.3 pence per share on Jan. 16. Under the deal, GKN shareholders will get 1.49 new Melrose shares for each GKN share and 81 pence in cash, or 430.1 pence.