Brookfield Has Until February 2nd To Make A New Offer To IWG (Regus)

Published on January 23, 2018 - By Cecilia Amador de San José

• Brookfield made International Workplace Group (IWG) an all-cash offer
• IWG (Regus) ‘rebuffed’ the offer
• Brookfield has until February 2nd to make a new offer

Late December, 2017, Regus’ holding company, International Workplace Group, confirmed that asset management firms Brookfield and Onex had approached the company about an all-cash offer.

Shortly after the announcement, IWG shares soared and Mark Dixon was reportedly open to the possibility of a takeover.  At the time, Brookfield and Onex had until January 20th to make a final offer to IWG.

Recently, the Financial Times reported that “Brookfield, the Canadian private equity investor, made an offer for UK-listed IWG last week, valuing the company at £2.5bn, but was rebuffed.” Although Regus declined the offer, it appears that both firms are still in discussions, and Brookfield has obtain a deadline extension, which is now set for February 2nd at 5pm.

While, according to Financial Times sources, Mark Dixon remains inclined to sell, the remainder of IWG’s directors are likely expecting a higher bid from Brookfield, which is why they have, at least until this moment, resisted and declined the offer.

At this point, it’s likely that Regus may indeed sell. Should this be the case, it will be interesting to see if Mark Dixon will remain a part of the company.