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On 2 December 2020, Countrywide, who had previously announced a possible offer from rival Connells, confirmed a second possible bidder in the form of Alchemy Partners.

The Alchemy proposal was first announced by Countrywide in October and consisted of a £90m equity raise to be fully underwritten by Alchemy by way of a firm placing, placing and open offer at an issue price of 135 pence per share. However, this received insufficient support from Countrywide shareholders. The terms of the new proposal include;

• ‘an opportunity for existing shareholders to sell their Countrywide shares at 250 pence per share to be fully funded by Alchemy Partners’.  This may be structured as a takeover offer in cash.
• a recapitalisation of the Countrywide of approximately £70m to be fully underwritten by Alchemy Partners, comprising a firm placing and an open offer generating gross proceeds of approximately £35m each
• the transfer of the Countrywide's listing on the Official List from the Premium Listing segment to the Standard Listing segment of the Main Market.

The Countrywide announcement on 2 December 2020 also stated that after reviewing the proposal from Connells with its advisers, the board have rejected the offer. Connells first approached property company, Countrywide on 9 November, highlighting the companies urgent need for recapitalisation in order to reduce its debt (See Flurry of takeover activity as deal activity bounces back). It reconfirmed its offer price of 250 pence per share on 23 November after completing due diligence. Connells also stated that Countrywide had limited alternative options, except for the ‘discredited proposal’ from Alchemy Partners, which Connells emphasised, did not cover the capital required by Countrywide.

While the Connells proposal has been rejected, Countrywide confirmed it was still considering ‘all potential options, including (but not limited to) the Revised Alchemy Proposal and a capital raise from existing shareholders of the Company’.

Responding to this, Connells have urged Countrywide shareholders to take no action in regard to the Alchemy proposal as it considers its options regarding its possible cash-offer for Countrywide. 

Market Tracker will continue to monitor these transactions as they develop.