The successful bidders for Songbird, the majority owner of Canary Wharf Group, have been awarded 14 extra days to complete their £2.6bn takeover, as predicted by Property Week.
In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange this morning the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Brookfield Property Partners revealed it had received so far received acceptances to its 350p a share final bid of 64.8%. Together with the 28.6% already controlled by the bidders, they now have 93.6%, meaning they have passed the crucial 90% of backing to delist Songbird from AIM.
QIA and Brookfield will now focus on gaining the backing of the remaining 6.4% following the 14-day extension, which runs until 1.00pm on 12 February.
The bidders encouraged the remaining Songbird shareholders who have not yet accepted the Songbird offer to do so by the deadline.
QIA and Brookfield are now able to begin the process of delisting Songbird from AIM, and will weigh up it options. It indicated in its bid document it may form a new Real Estate Investment Trust, but the company may also choose to form a new private held company.
The battle for Canary Wharf came to a dramatic end on Wednesday, following the shock announcement from Songbird that three major shareholder - China Investment Corporation, Morgan Stanley and Simon Glick - supported the bid.
In other news, another UK business icon was subject to rumours of a bid from the Qataris this morning as Qatar Airways - the state-owned carrier of the gas-rich emirate - today announced that it pounced for a 9.9% stake in International Airlines Group, the owner of the UK flag carrier British Airways.
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