The UK electrical goods chain Currys has rejected an improved takeover offer worth £742m from the US investment group Elliott Advisors.
The new offer from Elliott, which owns the Waterstones book stores and has a controlling stake in the restaurant chain Wasabi, was pitched at 67p a share, up from its earlier bid of 62p a share in mid-February, Currys said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
The retailer said its board had unanimously rebuffed the new bid, which was first reported by Sky News, “on the basis that it significantly undervalued the company and its future prospects”.
After Elliott’s first bid, the Chinese online retailer JD.com also said it was considering making an offer for Currys. Last week, the retailer’s biggest investor, the fund manager Redwheel, backed the board’s decision to reject Elliott’s first offer, arguing it was worth a lot more.
Shares in Currys were down 1% after it announced it had rejected the second offer, giving the company a market value of about £746m.
Elliott is known as an activist shareholder that has pushed for change at the drugmaker GSK and the housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, and has amassed high-profile investments such as the Italian football club AC Milan, which it later sold. It has also acquired a number of retail businesses through its private equity investment arm.
Currys, which has faced a tough market, was created through the 2014 merger of the mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail, which brought household names Currys, PC World and Carphone Warehouse under one roof. The business dates back to 1884 when it was founded by Henry Curry as a bicycle-building business before diversifying into the sale of toys, gramophones and radios when it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1927. It is now a member of the FTSE 250 index of mid-sized companies.
In 2021, Currys shifted its strategy to merge the four brands it operated – which included PC World, Dixons and Carphone Warehouse – into one master brand.
Currys employs more than 15,000 people in the UK and has about 300 stores. During the pandemic, it closed the 531 Carphone Warehouse stores it owned in the UK, with the loss of 2,900 jobs. In November, the company struck a £175m deal to sell its Greek business.
Under UK takeover rules, Elliott must announce a firm intention to make an offer for Currys by 5pm on 16 March, or walk away.
Elliott declined to comment.
