Charter turns down £1.4bn Melrose bid
Engineering turnaround investor Melrose has been rejected in its second bid to buy Irish manufacturer Charter. The company, which has major operations in Warwickshire, upped the stakes by offering £1.4bn.
Charter, based in Dublin, said that after consideration, it still found the "opportunistic" offer to undervalue the company.
Last month, Melrose made a £1.3bn move to buy the equipment manufacturer.
Charter said it had received a second offer from Melrose, at 840 pence per share.
In a statement, Charter said: "Having reviewed Melrose's revised proposal and given Melrose's advisers the opportunity to provide certain important clarifications, the board of Charter continues to believe that Melrose's revised proposal is opportunistic and undervalues the company and its prospects."
The board said it had rejected the proposals on the grounds that Melrose did not recognise "each of its businesses share key strengths; leading market positions; global exposure and strong growth potential".
