The possibility of a bidding war for the Mirror Group is looking more and more likely as yesterday’s £913 million takeover offer from Regional Independent Media (see Regional Independent Media Makes £913m Mirror Bid) is understood to have been rejected by Mirror’s majority shareholder, Phillips & Drew Fund Management (P&D).
The offer from RIM was made after earlier discussions between Mirror Group and Trinity International broke down (see Mirror Shareholder Urges That Trinity Talks Resume). It has been widely reported that the Trinity talks failed because Mirror’s chief executive, David Montgomery, would not relinquish his executive position in a merged company. The Mirror claims that Montgomery’s primary concern is that the Mirror Group is not sold off on the cheap.
It is thought that Trinity might now make a counter bid to RIM’s £913 million offer, effectively setting up a bidding contest. P&D, which holds a 22% stake in Mirror Group, is understood to favour an all-share deal with Trinity as it will then be able to retain its shareholding in a merged company.
Mirror’s shares closed yesterday up 32˝p at 206p on the back of the RIM offer. At 11:29am this morning the company’s stock was valued at 210p per share.
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