Countryside Partnerships Share Discussion Threads

[oldmancalling] 24/11/2022 12:15

A bit late, but.

Vistry agrees £1.25bn takeover of rival housebuilding group Countryside Partnerships and earmarks millions in cost savings
Vistry Group has agreed to buy rival Countryside Partnerships in a deal
Vistry said the deal would create 'significant benefits and value creation'
Housebuilders hopeful of flourishing under the next Prime Minister
By JANE DENTON FOR THISISMONEY

PUBLISHED: 08:50, 5 September 2022 | UPDATED: 16:37, 5 September 2022

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FTSE 250-listed housebuilder Vistry Group has agreed to buy rival Countryside Partnerships in a deal that values the embattled UK group at around £1.25billion.

The cash and share deal has been recommended by the boards of both companies, Vistry told shareholders on Monday.

Under the terms of the deal, Countryside shareholders will receive 0.255 new Vistry shares and 60p in cash for each Countryside share they own.

Deal: UK housebuilder Vistry has agreed to buy rival Countryside Partnerships +1
Deal: UK housebuilder Vistry has agreed to buy rival Countryside Partnerships

Vistry, which was previously known as Bovis Homes, said the deal would create 'significant benefits and value creation from the increased scale of the combined business and synergies of at least £50million.'

The deal will see the Countryside Partnerships brand added to Vistry’s existing stable, including Bovis Homes, Linden Homes and Drew Smith.

Vistry shares will continue to be listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List and will continue to trade on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.

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Vistry share price and data available here
Based on Vistry's closing share price of 741p on 2 September, the deal represents a total implied value of 249p per Countryside Share,

Vistry said: 'The terms of the Combination represent a premium of approximately 9.1 per cent. to the Closing Price per Countryside Share of 228 pence on 2 September 2022 (being the latest practicable date prior to the date of this announcement).'

Countryside put itself up for sale in June after coming under pressure from activist investor Browning West, which started building a stake in the company in 2020 and has been calling for a breakup.

UK housebuilder Countryside previously rejected two previous bids from Inclusive Capital, which valued it at around £1.47billion, claiming they undervalued the company.

Greg Fitzgerald, chief executive of Vistry, said: 'This proposed Combination has a highly compelling strategic rationale.

'It will create a leader in the Partnerships housing sector, with the scale and expertise to accelerate profitable growth across both Partnerships and Housebuilding, and expand the delivery of much needed affordable housing across England.

'The proposed Combination will add the strength of the Countryside brand to Vistry's own well-established Bovis Homes and Linden Homes brands and will leverage the skills and market knowledge of both the Countryside and Vistry teams.

'We believe there is clear potential to generate material value for both Vistry and Countryside Shareholders and wider stakeholders from a combined group with enhanced scale and superior returns and to improve the performance of key parts of Countryside's business.


'We welcome the support of the Countryside Board and the support we have already received from a significant proportion of Countryside Shareholders for the Combination.'

Douglas Hurt, chairman of Countryside, said: 'The Combination will create a leading, enlarged partnerships business and is an opportunity to leverage both Countryside's brand and place-making experience with the growing Vistry partnerships business, alongside Vistry's established housebuilding business.

'The scale of the Combined Group will enable the delivery of synergies, operating efficiencies and further growth for the benefit of Countryside Shareholders and wider stakeholders.

'The Countryside Board has carefully reviewed this Combination and believes it offers the best potential to create the greatest value for Countryside Shareholders.'

Vistry said in today's stock market update: 'The Combination would create one of the country's leading homebuilders, comprising a top tier housebuilder and a leading partnerships business, with capability across all housing tenures, and delivering much needed affordable housing.'

Vistry, which snapped up Galliford Try’s housing business Linden at the start of 2020, said the deal is expected to be wrapped up in the first quarter of next year with the enlarged business led by its chief executive Greg Fitzgerald.

On revenue growth, Vistry said: 'The revenue of the Combined Group’s Partnerships business would be expected to increase to over £3billion per annum in the medium term, materially in excess of the Vistry Group’s existing medium term target of approximately £1.6billion.'

Vistry shares were up 1.89 per cent or 14.00p to 755.00p this afternoon.

Countryside shares rose today and were up 5.17 per cent or 11.80p to 240.00p this afternoon.

Jeffrey Ubben, founder and managing partner of In-Cap, said: 'Due to significant operating synergies, In-Cap believes the combination delivers superior long-term value relative to its 295p per share possible cash offer.'

[berkley3] 11/11/2022 08:44

hi
can someone tell me what happens to the shares i am holding in countryside
are they converted to vistry shares

thanks

[hbuilder] 04/11/2022 08:17

Any idea why the share is up 4% today compared to minor gains of competitors including Vistry? I thought the share price was now intrinsically linked to the Vistry price???

[hbuilder] 06/9/2022 10:10

Yes agree it does appear odd and not great for shareholders.

Not particularly happy here.

The only thing I guess to note is that the house builders shares have all performed poorly due to wider market conditions since the InCap offer.

The £2.49 is very much now linked to the Vistry share price so a good day today for the share price at least!!

[shallwe] 06/9/2022 06:12

So, the board of Countryside turn down a bid of £2.95 from the Americans, then accept a bid of £2.49, how does that stack up?

[george stobbart] 04/9/2022 22:11

Vistry takeover bid to be announced tomorrow morning

[hbuilder] 04/9/2022 21:03

Telegraph yesterday….Vistry interested in buying…

[blackhorse23] 22/8/2022 06:56

Best Buy stock awarded to CURY (LSE) wow. https://www.gurufocus.com/news/1849001/currys-plc-a-diamond-in-the-rough

[medieval blacksmith] 29/7/2022 09:56

Why Bdev?

Because the others (not all, I admit) have declared what they are going to do with their access earnings/cash etc.. The wording of the BDev update would fit in with what is going on at CSP and CSP would complement Bdev better than others IMO.

This is of course all speculation. CSP shares seems to be doing marginally better than the other house builders even though most are having a run of late.

[hbuilder] 28/7/2022 23:02

Why Bdev in particular? Wouldn’t be a bad bet but could be any of the big boys with spare change knocking around?

[medieval blacksmith] 22/7/2022 10:30

Is BDEV going to bid for CSP?

What do shareholders think?

[blackhorse23] 06/7/2022 22:37

https://www.standard.co.uk/business/uk-stage-three-property-housing-market-downturn-b1010290.html

[blackhorse23] 10/6/2022 07:47

Shifted to IGR , perfect decision

[babbler] 30/5/2022 11:13

well not much to say... as the offer is there and thsts pretty much it. Surprised it rose that high.

[medieval blacksmith] 30/5/2022 08:54

So quiet with the news out this morning.

[km18] 20/5/2022 13:51

Countryside Partnership (CSP) posted interims yesterday. Reported revenue was down to £602.2m, adjusted operating profit was £46.9m, there was no change to current year adjusted operating profit expectations - the Board still expects approximately £150m including significant profit growth in the second half. Good progress is being made in the transition to an exclusively Partnerships business. H1 2022 completions, revenue and adjusted operating profit were down, but on an unusually strong comparative period which had benefited from Covid related deferrals. The total forward order book was up 19% to £1,816m since the start of the year. The business is recovering from COVID but will not reach FY19 levels yet this year. Share price has more than halved over the past 9 months so valuation is starting to look quite attractive, forward PE ratio is around 8.4x. But there are clear risks to meeting current FY22 profit guidance and the share price lacks momentum. CSP is a share to monitor for now...

...from WealthOracleAM

[plat hunter] 22/4/2022 14:45

Maybe not lol

[plat hunter] 21/4/2022 10:17

Is this finally the reversal we've been waiting for?

[shallwe] 14/4/2022 09:54

Since Browning West pulled their stunt 18 months ago wanting shareholder value, the shareholder value has plummeted.Just saying.

[plat hunter] 11/4/2022 14:59

It'll be back at 4 quid soon enough i reckon

[olliemagern] 11/4/2022 12:51

Waited 4 months for an explanation of what went wrong in the first half, and it is still difficult to assess how incompetent the directors are.
With a lot of one off extraordinary costs to come, Adjusted or under-lying earnings per share this year will be appear to be a lot higher than the real net earnings/loss per share.

By the end of 2022 real net tangible assets per share are likely to remain around 190p, despite no dividend.
In hindsight the buyback of shares between 500p in July 2021 and 300p recently was stupid.

[medieval blacksmith] 07/4/2022 08:53

Today's news and no posts?

WOW

[who knows 1] 23/2/2022 14:34

Csp need an update on the business as promised in January. Short interest will expand
as mentioned due to the uncertainty. Who knows how they will fair what with inflation
but the sooner the better. I think Browning West must be over leveraged with their position and will need to see some way forward. Personally I’m not sure how this will
turn out but the longer the downtrend the less confident I remain.