US facility services company Allied Universal is set to buy its UK rival G4S for £3.8 billion (around $5.1 billion), following a three-month-long bidding war with Canada’s GardaWorld.
The deal for the London-listed company—the world’s largest security provider and government contractor—could be one of the biggest UK take-privates since the start of the pandemic. G4S has global operations that span security, healthcare, immigration and employment services. In the UK, it runs four prisons and several COVID-19 testing centers.
There have been a handful of recent deals involving overseas investors taking high-profile UK companies private. Advent International completed its £4 billion buyout of aerospace company Cobham in January, while in 2019 a consortium that included Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus bought telecom group Inmarsat.
G4S generated roughly £7 billion in revenue in 2019, and Allied—which counts Warburg Pincus and W Capital among its shareholders—reported $8.4 billion; the combined entity is expected to generate $18 billion in revenue. Allied will pay 245 pence per share, a 68% premium on G4S’ closing price on Sept. 11, when GardaWorld made its initial offer, and 4% more than its rival’s final bid. Shares in G4S closed at 255 pence apiece on Tuesday. Shareholders have yet to approve the deal.
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