SVG talks to HarbourVest rivals to secure better offer

SVG, the private-equity investment fund on the end of a hostile £1 billion US takeover bid, said today it is in talks with potential rival bidders to flush out a higher offer.

The company, which received a bid on Monday from investor HarbourVest, added that the value of its investments had shot up in the past six months, making the US offer look “undervalued”.

HarbourVest’s offer — priced at 650p per share — represents a 2.4% discount to the value of SVG’s investments when they were last measured.

However, today’s updated assessment of SVG’s net asset value saw it jump to 735p a share thanks to the fall in sterling and an improvement in the performance of the companies it backs.

As a result, the takeover offer now represents a discount of 11.5%. Shares today shot up above the bid price, by 29.6p to 680p, reflecting hopes of a better deal.

SVG chief executive Lynn Fordham declined to comment on the rival bidders but said: “We will make sure we extract the maximum value whatever happens.”

The company has 14 days to come up with a full defence to HarbourVest’s offer.

HarbourVest has the irrevocable support of Coller Capital — which owns 26% of SVG’s shares — and it bought a further 8.5% in a dawn raid on Monday.