EQT sweetens Perpetual takeover bid to $2.5B

• Swedish private equity firm EQT AB has submitted a revised non-binding takeover proposal to acquire 100% of Australian financial services company Perpetual.
• The revised offer is at $2.50 billion.
• The takeover remains highly conditional on Perpetual completing the separate sale of its wealth management division to Bain Capital.

Perpetual (ASX:PPT) has received a revised non-binding indicative takeover proposal from Swedish private equity firm EQT AB that values the Australian investment manager at $2.50 billion.

The sweetened cash offer represents a 2% increase from the initial $2.45 billion, which the Sydney-based company rejected on July 1.

This revised proposal is subject to several conditions, including the completion of the sale of the wealth management business of Perpetual to Bain Capital, satisfactory due diligence, and regulatory approvals.

Following the announcement, the Perpetual share price was down at $18.91.

The board of Perpetual stated that it is currently considering the revised indicative proposal with the assistance of its financial and legal advisers.

The company previously agreed to divest its wealth management division to private equity firm Bain Capital for an upfront cash payment of $500 million.

The asset manager has been the target of several takeover bids in recent years, including turning down a $3.1 billion offer from its largest shareholder in 2023.