The Arena Events Group (LSE: ARE) share price has soared following news it has agreed to a takeover offer. At 20.25p the event services provider was last up 43% during Wednesday trading. This means it’s also up more than 300% from this point a year ago.
Arena announced it has agreed to a cash offer from Theta Bidco Limited which values the penny stock at £71m. The acquisition price of 21p per share represents a premium on Arena Events’ closing price of 14.15p on Tuesday.
Theta Bidco is a vehicle set up by Abu Dhabi-based IHC Industrial Holding LLC and Tasheel Holding Group LLC of Saudi Arabia. The latter is an existing shareholder of Arena Events with a 23.9% stake.
IHC and Tasheel are both holding companies. They were set up to diversify and grow non-oil business sectors in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The deal will see IHC take a 70% stake in Arena with Tasheel owning the remaining 30%.
Arena agrees to takeover bid
Arena Events chairman said that the offer“represents a substantial premium to the Arena Group’s existing share price and recognises the quality of Arena.” He added that the proposal reflects “the agility of the business to successfully rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic and its standing amongst its peers as the world of events returns to normality.”
And importantly, he said that as a privately owned group, the new owners “will help Arena grow through additional funding, which guarantees the future of the business as a leader in the event rental market”.