Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets Wins Bid for KCOM Group

By Oliver Griffin

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (Europe) Ltd. has outbid its rival, Universities Superannuation Scheme, in an auction to buy KCOM Group PLC (KCOM.LN).

On Friday, Macquarie once again increased its bid, this time to 120.3 pence per KCOM share, or 627 million pounds ($785.7 million). The bid was placed by MEIF 6 Fibre Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 6 SCSp, which is managed by the company.

At the same time, Universities Superannuation Scheme said subsidiary Humber Bidco Ltd. raised its bid to buy KCOM to 113 pence a share, or GBP589 million, up from its most recent offer of 110 pence a share on Wednesday.

The bids form the closing stages of a battle to buy KCOM, a London-listed telecommunications company, after the U.K. Takeover Panel ruled that an auction would be used to end the bidding war.

Last week, regulators said the auction would end by 1600 GMT on July 12 at the latest.

Universities Superannuation Scheme, a university private-pension plan, first made a recommended 97 pence per share offer for KCOM in April, but was outbid by Macquarie--a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Ltd. (MQG.AU)--which came forward with a 108 pence per share proposal.

Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]; @OliGGriffin

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 12, 2019 12:39 ET (16:39 GMT)

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