(Reuters) -British investment group Petershill Partners said on Thursday it plans to delist its shares from London and return money to shareholders as the board has become dissatisfied with the firm’s share price performance and valuation, dealing another blow to the UK equity market.
A subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s asset management division, Petershill launched in 2007 and made its London market debut in September 2021.
It said it would return $921 million of its capital to shareholders, following a strategic review to improve shareholder returns and market perception of the company.
“Despite the Company’s strong operating and financial performance and these strategic initiatives, the Company’s share price and valuation has, in the view of the Board, not appropriately reflected the quality and underlying value of the Company’s assets, its strong financial performance and attractive growth prospects,” it said.
Under the proposal, its freefloat shareholders would get $4.15 per in cash and an interim dividend of $0.052 per share, totalling $4.202, representing a premium of about 35% to the stock’s last closing price.
The deal values the company at $4.5 billion.
(1 British pound = $1.3456)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
