QIA/Brookfield up Songbird bid

The Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield have upped their offer for Canary Wharf parent Songbird Estates with a £3.50 per share final cash offer, valuing the company at £2.6bn. The offer – almost 20% up on the pair’s initial 295p bid – is below Songbird’s revised valuation of £3.81 per share. But a QIA spokesman said the revised bid represents a “significant premium to Songbird’s fundamental value”. This is because it is 15% higher than the company’s triple net NAV, a measure QIA and Brookfield consider to be a truer reflection of Songbird’s value. Brookfield chief executive Ric Clark said the offer “provides shareholders with the opportunity to realise the very significant increase in value that Songbird has experienced over the last year”. He added: “The offer is being made as Canary Wharf embarks on an ambitious development programme that will alter its risk profile.” The takeover is designed to simplify Canary Wharf’s complex ownership, which is considered to drag down its parent company’s share price. jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com