Maple Group Acquisition Corp, made up of 13 pension funds and Canadian financial institutions, has officially launched its $3.7 billion hostile bid for the TMX Group Inc.
The official submission offers to buy 70% of TMX for $48 per share. The Maple Group hopes that will be enough to make a case for its offer instead of a transatlantic merger planned by the owners of the Toronto and London stock exchanges.
“Our offer provides superior value and greater certainty for TMX Group shareholders, and a superior outcome for all participants in the Canadian capital markets,” said Luc Bertrand, Maple Group spokesperson in a release. “We are confident our offer will be successful, and that we can obtain all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals and close the transaction by late fall.”
The bid comes a day after Maple Group added four new financial companies to the mix. The new investors in the bid are Desjardins Financial Group, Dundee Capital Markets, GMP Capital Inc. and Manulife Financial.
As part of this hostile bid, Maple Group has urged TMX shareholders to vote against the agreement with the London Stock Exchange before the TMX annual meeting at the end of June.
Earlier, the TMX board had rejected the Maple bid saying it was not a superior deal and that it breeds too many uncertainties, including regulatory and debt risks.