Ancala urges Dee Valley shareholders to accept its bid

Ancala has urged Dee Valley shareholders to accept its revised bid for the company instead of Severn Trent's, as a court hearing to decide the future ownership of the water company is delayed once again.

The court announced on Friday (27 January) that it has reserved judgment on whether a proposed acquisition of Dee Valley by Severn Trent has been fairly decided, until 6 February.

Ancala managing partner Spence Clunie said: “We note the continuing uncertainty surrounding the deliverability of the Severn Trent scheme and encourage Dee Valley shareholders to accept the revised Ancala bid or sell Ancala their voting ordinary shares so that this elongated process can be brought to a conclusion.”

However, Dee Valley has recommended that shareholders do not take any further action in respect of the Ancala revised proposal until the court’s determination as to whether or not to sanction the scheme has been announced.

Severn Trent’s attempt to buy Dee Valley ran into trouble on 13 January after an unidentified buyer purchased 445 Dee Valley shares and redistributed them to a number of individuals.

This led to confusion at an extraordinary general meeting held for shareholders to vote on the proposed deal. The chairman chose to exclude votes associated with the redistributed shares, which resulted in the Severn Trent acquisition being approved by 87 per cent. 

However, the chairman’s decision has been challenged. It is thought that, had the votes been counted, the deal would have been rejected.

The Severn Trent bid for Dee Valley which is under consideration was made by the water and sewerage company 23 November 2016 and accepted in principle.

An earlier offer by the company had valued Dee Valley at £78.5 million, but this was topped by infrastructure investment manager Ancala, which made a rival offer 1 pence per share higher after close on 22 November 2016.