Australia's Ingenia at 10-month high after Warburg Pincus lifts bid to $1.5 billion (updated)

Ingenia Communities

Tue 23:59

Warburg Pincus arrives with fourth and improved bid
Latest bid A$0.1 apiece higher than AVID's offer
Warburg Pincus proposes two co-investors in its revised bid
Recasts to add details, background, context and shares
Oct 28 (Reuters) - Australia's Ingenia Communities INA.AX said on Wednesday it had received a fourth, improved A$2.24 billion ($1.55 billion) offer from private equity firm Warburg Pincus, sending the property developer's shares to a 10-month high.
Shares of Ingenia, which develops and operates communities offering rental and holiday accommodation, rose nearly 6% to A$5.31, their highest level since December 23.
The US-based firm's latest revised bid of A$5.50 per share comes days after AVID Property Group's A$5.40-per-share offer for Ingenia and is A$0.10 per share, or 1.9%, higher.
The latest bid values Ingenia at A$5.50 per share, including a permitted distribution, a 50.7% premium to its closing price before Warburg Pincus' initial approach in early September. Ingenia's shares have risen as much as 45.5% since that first offer.
Warburg Pincus also intends to bring in Australian Retirement Trust-backed Discovery Parks and LDR Capital, a unit of the Lederer family office, as co-investors.
Under the new proposal, Discovery Parks is expected to acquire Ingenia's holiday parks business, while LDR Capital could buy the property developer's gardens business.    
Warburg Pincus' latest offer is subject, among other conditions, to Ingenia approving the participation of the two co-investors and their proposed acquisitions.
The revised prposal also hinges on a exclusive due diligence access deadline of November 1.
Ingenia said the process deed with AVID remains operative with the latter continuing to have access to due diligence. 
While Warburg Pincus' latest offer is contingent on Ingenia terminating its planned A$992.5 million acquisition of Peet PPC.AX, announced in late August, the company said it continues to work with Peet on implementing the transaction.


        ($1 = 1.4229 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Sherin.Sunny@thomsonreuters.com;))