French leave Hammerson boss on the ropes

There can be no doubt whatsoever about what Hammerson thinks of Klépierre’s takeover tilt at a retail company that owns some of the best shopping centres in Britain. Hammerson’s umbrage at what it considers a derisory offer from its French property rival was patently obvious yesterday as it confirmed the news, first revealed in The Times, that it had rebuffed an approach from Klépierre at 615p a share two weeks ago. The shopping centre owner, best known for its part-ownership of the Bullring in Birmingham, said the approach was “unsolicited”, “wholly inadequate”, “entirely opportunistic in its timing” and “significantly undervalued Hammerson”, which has a net asset value — a key benchmark — of 776p a share. It added that it believed Klépierre was undervaluing Hammerson’s “track record of delivery, the quality of its portfolio, its market positions and the opportunities it has for future value creation”. The FT’s Lex column uses the deal to devote a column to the UK retail sector asking what value does Klépierre see in Britain’s woebegone retail sector that justifies its £4.9bn bid for shopping centre operator Hammerson? Equally, what visions of greatness have inspired Hammerson to reject the offer and pursue its plan of buying rival Intu? Click here for the full Times article (£) Click here for the full FT article (£)