Harworth directors recommend shareholders accept 'best and final offer' worth £631.7m from Doncaster Sheffield Airport owner Peel
The directors of Yorkshire-based land developer Harworth have unanimously recommended that its shareholders accept a “best and final offer” worth £631.7m from Doncaster Sheffield Airport landowner Peel.
Peel, which is already a long-term investor in Harworth, is seeking to take over the company via a subsidiary called Peel Pepper and has argued that Harworth’s assets would be “best owned, managed and developed under its full control".
Peel lifted its cash offer for Rotherham-headquartered Harworth Group from £583m to £599.77m last week, as the company said Harworth’s recently launched strategy to achieve millions in cost savings was "lacking credibility”.
On September 18, Harworth's board rejected this increased takeover bid.
However in a statement, issued on Friday, Harworth said: “BidCo today is pleased to announce the terms of a recommended increased best and final cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Harworth not already owned by BidCo or other wholly-owned subsidiaries of Peel Holdings at a price of 187 pence per Harworth share.”
This offer values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Harworth at around £631.7m and represents a premium of approximately 30.2 per cent to the closing price of 143.6 pence per Harworth share on 5 August, the statement added.
"The best and final offer represents an 8.4 per cent increase on the offer announced on 6 August 2026,’’ it said.
The Harworth Board said it believes the “best and final offer” is in the best interests of all Harworth shareholders, “as it accelerates shareholder returns that could be delivered from, and removes the execution risk associated with, the strategic plan that Harworth would pursue independently.”
In a statement, Harworth’s board said it had carefully considered whether the best and final offer provided Harworth shareholders with the opportunity to realise the entirety of their interests in cash “against the current uncertainty presented by a weak macroeconomic backdrop and persistent illiquidity in the shares exacerbated by the concentrated profile of Harworth's share register”.
It continued: “The Harworth Directors, who have been so advised by Barclays and Peel Hunt as to the financial terms of the best and final offer, consider the terms..to be fair and reasonable.
"In providing their advice to the Harworth directors, Barclays and Peel Hunt have taken into account the commercial assessments of the Harworth directors.”
"Therefore, the Harworth directors unanimously recommend that Harworth shareholders accept the best and final offer.
“Further details of the best and final offer will be set out in a revised offer document, which will be prepared and is expected to be distributed to Harworth shareholders as soon as reasonably practicable.”
Harworth was the property division of UK Coal, named after the Nottinghamshire village where the latter organisation was based.
Now listed on the London Stock Exchange, it owns, develops and manages more than 14,000 acres of land on around 100 sites across the North and Midlands.