Delancey in £194m deal to take over Minerva

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 16:59 EDT, 26 May 2011

Shares in property group Minerva soared yesterday after it accepted a £194million takeover bid – the third offer for the company in the last three years.

Minerva, which owns office blocks in the City of London and upmarket apartments around Hyde Park, struck a deal with a consortium led by Delancey, the property investor run by Jamie Ritblat. 

The 120.5p a share bid was 21.4 per cent higher than Wednesday’s closing price of 99.25p and shares rose 14 per cent to 113.25p.

Up in the sky: Minerva owns office blocks in the City of London

Minerva saw off a 160p a share offer from Dubai-based Limitless in 2008 and last year defeated a 50p bid from South African businessman Nathan Kirsch, who owns 30 per cent of the company.

There are signs the London property market is picking up. London & Stamford (up 0.1p to 131p) said income jumped 160 per cent to £41.8million last year and raised the dividend 43 per cent to 6.3p a share.

However, profits fell from £106.1million to £43.3million. Helical Bar (up 1.9p to 259.6p) said rents rose 19 per cent last year to £17.8million, although it slumped to an annual loss of £6.3million.