GoldenTree Asset Management, the owner of Travelodge, has acquired the majority of Abrdn Property Income Trust’s portfolio for £351 million. This transaction includes nearly all of the trust’s 39 properties, with the exception of land at Far Ralia in the Cairngorms.
The London-listed trust informed its shareholders that the US investment giant will purchase its Abrdn Property Holdings subsidiary.The deal follows the collapse of a previous takeover bid by Custodian Property Income REIT earlier this year.
Custodian’s offer, which proposed that API shareholders receive 0.78 Custodian shares for each API share, did not achieve the required 75% approval rate during a vote in March. Subsequently, shareholders voted in May to approve a managed wind-down and asset sale for the trust.
James Clifton-Brown, chair of API, stated to Insider.co.uk : “Since the shareholder vote on 28 May to put the company into a managed wind down was passed, the board, alongside the investment manager,… explored the most effective means of disposing of the company’s assets”
GoldenTree has already paid a cash deposit of £35.1 million and will complete the payment once the takeover is finalized. The board considered GoldenTree’s bid as offering the best solution for shareholders compared to potential individual sales over an extended period.
Clifton-Brown expressed gratitude towards Abrdn’s team for achieving this outcome for shareholders, noting: “Following a second round of bids, the board considered the GoldenTree Asset Management bid provided the best solution for shareholders, compared with the net present value of what might be achieved by way of individual sales over a longer period and represents a swift implementation of the shareholder resolution to conduct a managed wind down. I would like to thank the team at Abrdn who have delivered this outcome for shareholders”
