AIRE Board Backs Glenstone’s 70p Cash Offer

Alternative Income REIT (LON: AIRE), a property investment trust, saw its board reverse its rejection of Glenstone REIT’s takeover bid after the 70p-a-share cash offer became unconditional today, and now urges shareholders to accept.

AIRE shares traded around 68.1p in early trade today, down from yesterday’s close of 69.0p, within a 52-week range of 63.07p to 78.50p.

Glenstone’s offer, which satisfied its acceptance condition today with all other conditions met or waived, represents roughly a 17% discount to AIRE’s latest unaudited net asset value of 84.4p per share as at 31 March. AIRE’s board had previously argued that discount meant the offer undervalued the trust.

That resistance has given way now that the offer has become unconditional, leaving independence no longer realistic. With no rival offer on the table, the board has shifted from rejection to recommending acceptance following the offer’s unconditional status, rather than any change in price.

Glenstone has set out what control means in practice: internalising AIRE’s management, appointing two executive directors, and terminating existing service-provider arrangements. It intends a managed wind-down of AIRE’s assets over roughly three years if it falls short of full ownership.

The stakes for remaining shareholders are stark. If Glenstone reaches 75% of voting rights it intends to cancel AIRE’s Main Market listing and move it to The International Stock Exchange, a smaller and less liquid venue; between 50% and 75% it will weigh similar proposals. Settlement for anyone who accepts is due within 14 calendar days of the offer becoming unconditional, and it must stay open for at least 14 more days, leaving remaining holders to choose between cashing out at 70p or staying on as a minority investor in a company being wound down around them.