Australia’s Virtus Health Ltd said on Monday it had accepted a sweetened A$704.8 million ($514 million) takeover offer from CapVest Partners LLP, which topped an improved offer from rival bidder BGH Capital.
After resuming trading, Virtus shares rallied over 8% to A$8.33 to hit their highest since August 2016, exceeding CapVest’s bidding price.
However, the months-long bidding war for the in vitro fertilization (IVF) service provider was not necessarily over, as the deal with London-based CapVest allows the Virtus board to consider a superior proposal from Melbourne-based BGH or another party.
“The Board remains able to consider and progress superior proposals that any parties subsequently table,” it said.
CapVest’s revised cash offer of A$8.25 per share is a 7% premium to Virtus’s Thursday close and a 58% premium to its close on Dec. 13, before the bidding war started.
The deal will help Virtus, currently operating around 40 fertility clinics globally, to expand its fertility business in Australia and internationally, its Chief Executive Officer Kate Munnings said in a statement.
The deal, unanimously recommended by the company’s board, knocks out a A$8.10 per share offer from Melbourne-based BGH Capital made after the market close on March 10. That offer was conditional on Virtus not signing an implementation deed with London-based CapVest.
The latest CapVest deal includes a potential simultaneous off-market takeover offer if it does not reach the required minimum threshold of 50% shareholder acceptance.
The board said it might pay a fully franked special dividend of 44 cents per share in cash, on or before the implementation of the CapVest transaction.
Virtus’ shares have jumped around 64% since the end of 2019, underlining an increasing demand for IVF treatment since the onset of the pandemic.
BGH Capital did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
