The bidding war between Macquarie’s real estate arm and Roc Partners over the ownership of Vitalharvest could be heading toward a resolution, after Macquarie raised its bid to A$1.24 per share on 23 April.
Macquarie had previously outbid Roc Partners with an offer of A$1.19 per unit on 21 April.
The ball is firmly in Sydney-based private equity firm Roc Partners court, which now faces the decision of increasing its offer. It's last offer for Vitalharvest was A$1.18 per unit.
The two-month tussle, which has highlighted the growing corporate appetite for food-producing agricultural assets, has sent the Vitalharvest share price soaring as hedge funds joined the register in the hopes of making a tidy profit from the takeover battle, according to Commercial Real Estate.
The battle kicked off in late February when Roc Partners lobbed a A$1.08 per unit bid for Vitalharvest just a week before unitholders were set to vote on Macquarie’s binding A$1 per unit offer or A$300.5m for all the trust’s assets including the four berry and three citrus orchards leased to fruit and vegetable giant Costa Group.
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