Segro Rejects Prologis Offer, Stock Up 16%

Segro Rejects Prologis Offer, Stock Up 16%

Prologis announced on Wednesday that it had submitted a takeover approach for Segro plc, offering 925 pence per Segro share. The offer valued the combined transaction at roughly £12.6 billion (approximately $16.6 billion) and would have given Segro shareholders 0.084 newly issued Prologis shares for each Segro share held, representing a 25% premium to the previous day’s closing price.

Segro’s board rejected the proposal outright, stating that it was not in the best interests of shareholders. Following the rejection, Segro’s share price jumped about 16% by 07:39 GMT, and the broader FTSE 350 Real Estate index rose 5.2%. The news also lifted other UK industrial and logistics landlords, with shares in Land Securities Group plc, Londonmetric Property plc, Tritax Group plc, British Land Company plc and Big Yellow Group plc gaining between 3% and 5.5%.

Under UK takeover rules, Prologis has until 22 July to either firm up a binding offer or walk away from the transaction. Stifel analysts noted that Prologis operates a global logistics portfolio of approximately 1.1 billion square feet, valued at around $100 billion, and argued that there is a clear strategic fit between the two companies. They also highlighted that Segro’s shares have traded at roughly a 20% discount to net asset value for the past two years, a situation they attribute to a broader sell‑off in the UK REIT sector. Segro’s market capitalisation stands at about £10 billion, representing just under 20% of the EPRA UK REIT Index, and analysts warned that a takeover could pose a serious challenge to the long‑term viability of the UK listed property sector.