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Australia's NEXTDC rallies; calls Goodman, Digital Realty share bid 'opportunistic'

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In short

The joint institutional offer seeks to purchase up to a 9.9 per cent stake in NEXTDC, propelling its shares up to 45.8 per cent in record intraday trading. NEXTDC's board confirmed it has not received a formal control proposal, though the buyers explicitly reserved their rights to make one later. The unsolicited interest follows a severe downturn in October driven by power delays at the M3 Melbourne site and reduced earnings forecasts. To stabilize operations, the operator has paused future project expansions and is reviewing the potential sale of specific development sites.

Key points

  • The target company's board labelled the multi-million-dollar offer opportunistic while co…: The target company's board labelled the multi-million-dollar offer opportunistic while confirming no formal takeover proposal has yet been submitted.
  • Goodman Group and Digital Realty explicitly reserved the right to lodge a future control…: Goodman Group and Digital Realty explicitly reserved the right to lodge a future control or takeover proposal for NEXTDC.
  • NEXTDC previously shelved all new land acquisitions and development projects following an…: NEXTDC previously shelved all new land acquisitions and development projects following an October share price collapse tied to site power delays.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Nov 5 : Australian data centre operator NEXTDC said on Thursday its board considered an aftermarket book build by an entity owned by Goodman Group and Digital Realty to be "opportunistic", and that it had received no takeover proposal.

Shares of NEXTDC rallied in early trade, jumping as much as 45.8 per cent to A$9.52 by 2336 GMT and eyeing its strongest intraday gain ever. The stock had lost 45.8 per cent in October.

On Wednesday, Goodman Group and Digital Realty offered to buy up to 9.9 per cent of NEXTDC in a deal worth about A$715 million ($501.14 million), Reuters reported, citing a term sheet.

The share purchase comes after NEXTDC's stock plunged in October, when the company announced a power delay at its M3 Melbourne site, cut its guidance and shelved new development. The deal would give two rival data centre operators a stake of nearly 10 per cent in the Australian data centre operator.

NEXTDC said it noted the statement by Goodman and Digital Realty to investors during the aftermarket book build that they have "no intention…

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