The auction for KCOM is now underway, as the battle for the Hull internet giant heats up.
Two companies - USS and Macquarie – are locked in a takeover fight for KCOM, with offers already having been made from both firms.
The British Takeover panel announced last week that, due to neither firm saying its offer was final, a week-long auction would be held.
The auction officially got underway on Sunday, July 7 at 5pm, and will run until Friday, July 12.
But how does it all work, and what can we expect to see from this week?
How does the auction work?
The auction runs for five days, from Monday, July 8 until Friday, July 12.
During that window, the two bidders are expected to submit bids for KCOM.
Due to Macquarie holding the highest offer at the start of the auction – the investment firm’s £563m bid in June trumped USS’ previous one of £504m – it is understood USS will place the first bid to raise Macquarie’s offer.
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From there, the auction will go back and forth in traditional fashion, until one of the two firms signals they can go no further.
There is no indication at this stage whether either USS or Macquarie has a final offer in mind, or how high the figure will rise this week.
If by the start of Friday the auction is still running, the process is expected to quicken to reach a conclusion by the end of the week.
Who are the bidders?
The first offer for KCOM came from Humber Bidco, a subsidiary of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) on April 24.
The bid was £504m, worth 97p per share.
The USS was formed in 1975 and is one of the largest private sector pension schemes in the 海角视频.
With assets worth £64bn, it is the leading pension scheme for academic staff at universities across the country.
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USS has completed a string of high-profile acquisitions over the years.
It currently owns Moto Hospitality, the company which runs almost 60 motorway service stations, and has investments in Heathrow Airport, Thames Water and a number of shopping centres.
USS is headquartered in Liverpool, in the prestigious Royal Liver Building.
On June 3, USS’ £504m bid was gazumped by investment fund Macquarie, which bid £563m.
The new offer was worth 108p per share – 11p more than USS’.
The new bid was technically tabled by a subsidiary of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA).
MIRA is one of the world’s biggest asset managers, and handles over €110bn of assets across the globe.
More importantly though, it is a major investor and owner of telecommunications infrastructure.
MIRA manages assets ranging from fibre and cable broadband networks, broadband infrastructure, secure mobile networks, pay-TV and mobile towers.
It supplies infrastructure used by all of the 海角视频’s major broadcasters and mobile network providers, and also owns telecoms and internet firms in Denmark and Poland.
What are the auction rules?
The terms of the auction were released by the Takeover Panel ahead of this week.
It said there was no minimum increment by which each bidder had to raise its offer, and that the terms did not need to be more favourable or superior than a bid presented by the other party.
It also said it was possible at the end of the auction window that the cash bid offered by each firm for KCOM could be the same.
Once the auction is over, neither bidder is able to revise its offer for KCOM, unless a new company puts an offer in for the internet giant.
How will we hear about new bids for KCOM?
Details of bids made by the two parties during the auction will be released on the Stock Exchange website.
Hull Live will also be keeping you up-to-date with all the latest bids from either USS or Macquarie, until the winning buyer of KCOM is revealed.