(Reuters) -British student accommodation developer Unite Group has agreed to acquire Empiric Student Property <ESP.L> in a cash-and-stock deal valuing the smaller peer at 634 million pounds ($860.59 million), the companies said on Thursday.
The proposed acquisition adds to a growing wave of transactions in the UK REIT sector and comes amid a broader surge in takeover bids for British firms.
Under the terms of the deal, Empiric’s shares would be valued at about 94.2 pence each, excluding dividends, based on Unite’s closing share price of 732 pence on Wednesday.
Upon completion, Empiric shareholders will own about 10% of the combined group, with existing Unite shareholders holding the remaining 90%.
($1 = 0.7367 pounds)
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
