MADRID (Reuters) – Infrastructure fund I Squared Capital Advisors and TDR Capital said on Thursday they had made an offer for Spanish industrial testing company Applus at a higher price than one made by rival fund Apollo in June.
I Squared and TDR offered to pay 9.75 euros per Applus share versus the 9.50 euros offered by Apollo.
Following TDR’s offer, Apollo has the right to raise its bid according to the Spanish law.
The new bid values Applus at 1.26 billion euros while the Apollo bid valued it at 1.23 billion. The company’s current market value is 1.22 billion euros.
The funds said that they have the offer fully financed and they will reduce the price in case Applus pays any dividend.
Linklaters is acting as legal adviser for I Squared and TDR.
(Reporting by Andres Gonzalez and Inti Landauro; editing by Jason Neely)
