Midland retail giant Poundland is to be snapped up by South African retailer Steinhoff International after agreeing a 拢597 million takeover deal.
Willenhall-based Poundland accepted the 222p-a-share bid after rejecting a cash offer from Steinhoff last month for an undisclosed sum.
The deal comes after Steinhoff - which owns 海角视频 furniture firm Harveys and Bensons For Beds - recently lost out in a battle with Sainsbury鈥檚 to buy Argos owner Home Retail Group in March and was outbid for London-listed white goods retailer Darty.
The sale price, which also includes a 2p-a-share final dividend on top of the 220p-a-share bid, marks around a 40 per cent premium to the value of Poundland鈥檚 shares in mid-June.
It follows a hefty slump in Poundland鈥檚 shares over the past year after tough trading and a difficult takeover of rival 99p Stores.
Annual results recently laid bare Poundland鈥檚 sales woes as underlying pre-tax profits fell 13.5 per cent to 拢37.8 million in the year to March 27, while bottom-line pre-tax profits crashed 83.7 per cent to 拢5.9 million, including converted 99p Stores.
Steinhoff had already built up a 23.6 per cent stake in Poundland in recent weeks as it stepped up its pursuit of the set-price retailer.
Darren Shapland, chairman of Poundland, said the deal gave investors an 鈥渙pportunity to realise their shareholding at a certain and attractive price鈥.
He said it achieved the share price value targeted under its turnaround plan earlier than could be expected 鈥渁gainst a background of increasing economic uncertainty in the 海角视频 and a more challenging trading environment鈥.
Steinhoff chief executive Markus Jooste said: 鈥淭he board of Steinhoff and its management team are enthusiastic about the opportunities that this transaction brings: we believe that there is significant merit in bringing Poundland into Steinhoff鈥檚 global network.
鈥淪teinhoff is developing a fast-growing, price-led retail business across the 海角视频 and the rest of Europe. Poundland would be a complementary fit to this growth story.鈥
He added that management at Poundland would continue to play a 鈥渒ey role鈥 after the takeover and said he looked forward to 鈥渨elcoming鈥 the chain鈥檚 employees.
Poundland has around 18,000 staff across more than 900 stores and is headquartered in Willenhall.
Steinhoff said it had no plans to change the group鈥檚 head office or employment conditions for staff.
It marks an eventful start at the top for Poundland鈥檚 new boss, Kevin O鈥橞yrne, after he took the reins earlier this month.
The former B&Q 海角视频 and Ireland head took over from predecessor Jim McCarthy on July 1, having joined as chief executive-designate in April.
Retail analysts at Liberum said Steinhoff had offered a 鈥渒nock-out price鈥.
They added: 鈥淭he recommended cash offer is a good result for Poundland shareholders and comes at a time when there was more downside risk than upside in our view.鈥
Steinhoff has been determined to expand further across Europe, having tried and failed to gatecrash two deals in recent months.
It is backed by South African retail billionaire Christo Wiese, whose Brait investment group also owns controlling stakes in Virgin Active, New Look and food chain Iceland.
Steinhoff also owns Conforama in France, as well as a number of retailers across Europe, Australasia and Africa.
