Brave Bison abandons Mission Group takeover efforts
Shares in Mission slid in early trading on Monday after Brave Bison confirmed it will not make a firm takeover offer.
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Your support makes all the difference.Marketing firm Brave Bison has ditched its takeover pursuit of rival Mission Group.
Shares in Mission slid in early trading on Monday after Brave Bison confirmed it will not make a firm takeover offer, after talks linked to a £32.3 million acquisition approach.
Brave Bison owns the Social Chain agency founded by Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett and is backed by billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft.
Last week, Brave Bison said it had put forward an improved proposal to buy Mission at 35.1p per share – valuing the company at £32.3 million – after an earlier £27 million approach was rebuffed.
But Mission Group said at the time the latest takeover tilt could still be inadequate.
Mission Group said: “The board’s preliminary view is the revised possible offer does not reflect Mission’s contribution to the proposed combined group.”
On Monday, Brave Bison said its proposal was ultimately rejected.
It added that the “Mission Board, led by the chairman, rejected Brave Bison’s attempts for constructive dialogue” and did not provide an extension for Brave Bison’s deadline for making a firm takeover offer.
“The board of Brave Bison is disappointed by the lack of engagement from the Mission board and does not believe that the Mission board’s strategy to deleverage the business will deliver value for Mission shareholders in excess of the revised proposal,” the company added.
It said it would walk away from the deal and is now not able to re-enter talks over a potential deal with Mission for at least six months due to takeover rules.
Mission confirmed the end to the takeover pursuit in a separate statement, with the firm’s bosses stating that they are “confident in Mission’s standalone prospects”.
Shares in Mission were 13.7% lower at 23.3p on Monday morning.