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Tritax Big Box REIT PLC on Friday declared its offer to buy Warehouse REIT PLC final, without raising the price, as acceptances for a higher bid from Blackstone Europe remained low. Both Warehouse and Tritax are London-based real estate trusts investing in large logistics sites. Tritax and Blackstone Europe, a subsidiary of the US private equity firm, are offering Warehouse cash and share deals. Tritax’s final offer is roughly 3.5% lower than Blackstone’s, but Tritax insisted that a combination with Warehouse can only remain ‘compelling’ if its price does not rise. Back in June, Warehouse said it would accept Tritax’s deal, which at the time was worth 114.2p per Warehouse share. The deal is 47.2p in cash, plus 0.4236 of one of its own shares, for each share in Warehouse REIT, but has lost value as Tritax’s share price has fallen. In July, Tritax’s offer represented around 111.1p per Warehouse share. Warehouse switched its recommendation to a sweetened Blackstone bid, worth 113.4 pence per share in cash, plus a 1.6p interim dividend, valuing Warehouse at £489 million. Blackstone had raised its price to match an early approach made in March, before due diligence led the firm to temporarily lower its price to 109.00p per share. The fact that Tritax has finalised its offer means it can avoid an auction process, which the UK Takeover Panel said would take place if neither bidder had made a final offer by August 25. ‘While the board of BBOX continues to believe that a combination of BBOX and Warehouse represents a compelling proposition for both sets of shareholders it does not believe that increasing the financial terms would be in the interests of BBOX shareholders,’ Tritax said, underlining that it remains ‘highly disciplined on capital allocation’. Warehouse traded 1.1% lower at 112.80p per share on Friday morning in London, while Tritax shares rose 0.4% to 139.50p. Over the last 12 months, Warehouse has gained 31% and Tritax has lost 14% in value. Despite beating Tritax’s price, Blackstone’s offer only had 13.8% acceptances as of Friday, which includes its own 13.52% stake in Warehouse. The private equity firm reported valid acceptances from Warehouse shareholders holding a combined 1.1 million shares, or 0.26% of the company. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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