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Aug 25 (Reuters) - Australian asset manager Perpetual Ltd (PPT) will buy Pendal Group (PDL) in a scrip deal for an implied value of A$6.54 per share, the companies said on Thursday, about four months after the investment manager rejected Perpetual's initial offer.
The implied offer price was higher than the A$6.23 apiece offered earlier and represented a 46% premium to the Pendal stock's pre-bid close in April.
Shares of Pendal surged about 12.5%, heading for their best day since April 4 when the initial Perpetual proposal was disclosed.
Under the terms of the scheme, Pendal's shareholders will receive one Perpetual share for every 7.5 Pendal shares they hold and A$1.976 in cash.
The deal valued Pendal at A$2.32 billion ($1.61 billion), lower than the earlier A$2.40 billion bid following a share price rout in July.
As of last close, Pendal shares had declined 12.4% so far this year, and the company had rejected the initial bid saying it significantly undervalued Pendal.
Pendal Chief executive Officer Nick Good said the deal would help the company accelerate growth and improve competitive position, particularly in environmental, social, and governance.
A former subsidiary of Westpac Banking Corp (WBC) , Pendal unanimously recommended the deal to its shareholders who would own about 47% of the combined group.
The company said up to three directors from the group would be on the combined entity's board. ($1 = 1.4449 Australian dollars)
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