News

TDG has described the £203m formal takeover bid it has received from Laxey Partners as being "in the best interests of shareholders". Under the agreed deal, Laxey is offering TDG shareholders two options - either 250p cash per share, or 200p plus 6.625 shares in the private equity firm's acquisition vehicle LIT.

Shareholders who choose the second option can also elect to receive one LIT share for every 10p of the 200p cash component. LIT says it is subscribing to up to £90m of its shares  at 10p each to fund the acquisition and provide working capital for LIT. Charles Mackay, TDG chairman, says: "The announcement brings to a close a lengthy process during which we have evaluated all aspects of the proposal from Laxey, as well as running a process to determine other potential interests.

"The independent directors have concluded that the cash offer proposed by Laxey is in the best interests of TDG's shareholders as a whole and recommend that TDG shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions to be proposed at the meetings." Laxey had made an initial indicative cash offer of 275p per TDG share in February. Wincanton abandoned its potential £233m bid last month (MT 19 June), claiming a deal was "not in the best interests of shareholders".

Meanwhile, TDG says trading so far this year remains ahead of its previous expectations and well ahead of the comparable period in 2007. David Garman, TDG chief executive, says much of the improvement has been delivered by  its chemicals division, reflecting good progress in Continental Europe.

He adds: "Despite the distraction of being in an offer period, the team has remained focused on service delivery and we have retained a positive momentum within the business." TDG's interim results will be announced on 30 July.