Peel Pepper (UK) Limited, trading as BidCo, made a cash offer of 172.5 pence per share for Harworth Group plc, valuing the issued share capital at roughly £582.9 million. The proposal represented a 20.1% premium to Harworth’s closing price of 143.6p on August 5 2026 and 36.9% and 36.0% premiums to the one‑month and three‑month volume‑weighted average prices, respectively. The offer will stay open until 1:00 p.m. London time on October 25 2026.
Harworth’s half‑year results for the period ended June 30 2026 showed a 4.3% drop in EPRA net disposal value per share to 214.8p and a 4.2% fall in statutory net asset value per share to 206.5p. Total accounting return over the past 18 months was negative 1.4%, headline rental income fell 6.0%, administrative costs rose 4.9% and net finance costs increased 47.6% versus the first half of 2025.
The group announced it would exit the residential sector, a segment valued at about £234 million, and set a long‑term goal of a low double‑digit total accounting return. Peel Pepper questioned Harworth’s data‑centre strategy, noting that the powered land portfolio lacks full planning consent and that a site under exclusivity for a possible conditional sale may not yield cash receipts until 2033.
Harworth’s board rejected the bid. Peel Pepper said it will review the rejection and issue its detailed views later.
