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Aareal Bank Says It Had Received A Second Takeover Offer

Aareal Bank Says It Had Received A Second Takeover Offer

Aareal Bank AG, the German lender whose shareholders rejected a takeover offer by Advent International and Centerbridge Partners, said it had received a second bid.

“Another consortium approached us with a proposal,” Chief Executive Officer Jochen Kloesges said during a call with journalists on Thursday, adding that the group was not willing to bid more than what Advent and Centerbridge had offered. The consortium eventually withdrew its offer, he said.

Aareal Bank shares rose as much as 3% on Thursday and traded at 26.98 euros as of 4:10 p.m. in Frankfurt.

Earlier this month, Advent and Centerbridge failed to get above their self-imposed minimum acceptance threshold of 60% for their 1.86-billion-euro ($2.1 billion) takeover bid. The defeat followed strong opposition by Teleios Capital Partners and Petrus Advisers, two activist shareholders that had repeatedly rebuffed the offer, arguing the price was too low and other parties were interested in the lender.

Aareal Bank said in a statement on January 20 that it did not receive “any competing offer” after Advent and Centerbridge published their offer. Aareal management had supported the offer by the two private equity investors.

A key point of contention is the German lender’s software arm, known as Aareon, the value of which the activist investors said wasn’t reflected in the price. Aareal Bank resisted Petrus’s previous calls to pursue a full sale of Aareon and instead sold a minority stake in the unit to Advent. 

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