Slaughter and May is advising Ascential plc (“Ascential”) on its proposed return of £850 million to shareholders by way of: a tender offer to acquire up to £300 million of Ascential shares; a special dividend of at least £450 million, to be combined with a consolidation of Ascential’s issued share capital; and on-market share buyback programmes to acquire £100 million of Ascential shares. The tender offer and share consolidation are conditional on approval by Ascential’s shareholders at a general meeting to be held on 22 April 2024. The tender offer will open on 5 April 2024 and is expected to close on 3 May 2024.
The return of value follows the completion of Ascential’s disposal of its digital commerce business to Omnicom Group Inc., and the sale of its product design business to funds advised by Apax Partners LLP, for a combined enterprise value of £1.4 billion and cash proceeds of £1.2 billion. Both transactions completed in Q1 2024.
Slaughter and May has been working closely with Ascential’s General Counsel Alison Wood and Company Secretary Naomi Howden.