G4S shareholders accept £3.8bn Allied Universal offer
G4S shareholders have accepted a £3.8bn bid from Allied Universal, bringing to a close a months-long battle between two firms to take control of the FTSE 250 company.
Allied Universal said it had received valid acceptances representing roughly 79 per cent of the G4S share capital. The threshold was 50 per cent plus one G4S share.
“My team and I look forward to working with Allied to support a successful integration of the two businesses,” said G4S chief executive Ashley Almanza.
The merger between G4S and private-equity backed Allied Universal will create Allied Bidco, the world’s largest private security company, generating more than $18bn in revenue and employing more than 750,000 security guards and other staff.
G4S in December agreed to a takeover by Allied Universal, picking the U.S. company over Canadian rival GardaWorld after a months-long bidding war. It had rejected GardaWorld’s offer of 235 pence per share in favour of Allied’s bid, which was 10 pence higher.
GardaWorld had been making offers for G4S for months. The Canadian firm, which is significantly smaller than G4S, has raised the price of its bid four times since first approaching shareholders about a potential buy in the summer.
The dogged pursuit has at times descended into acrimony, with both GardaWorld and G4S seeking to convince shareholders of the weaknesses of the other.