EQT Raises Perpetual Takeover Bid to A$2.55 Billion, Third Sweetener This Month

Swedish private equity giant EQT AB is not giving up on Perpetual.

On Monday, the Australian financial services firm said it received a revised takeover proposal from EQT valuing the company at A$2.55 billion, or roughly $1.78 billion USD, according to Reuters. The new offer works out to A$22.50 per share.

That's a nearly 19% premium over Perpetual's last closing price, Reuters reported. It's also the third bid EQT has floated for Perpetual this month alone.

A Month of Escalating Offers

EQT started this process on July 1 with an offer of A$21.64 a share, according to Reuters. Mid-month, the firm bumped that up to A$22.07. Now it's at A$22.50.

Each increase has been incremental. The latest bump from EQT's initial approach amounts to roughly a 4% increase overall, Reuters noted.

Perpetual's board isn't rolling over easily. According to Capital Brief, the board rejected the A$22.07 offer, saying it did not adequately represent fair value for shareholders, even though that proposal was only about A$50 million higher than EQT's opening bid.

Fidelity's coverage of the earlier round noted Perpetual's board had already turned down an even earlier offer valuing the company near A$2.45 billion, or about $1.69 billion USD, calling it inadequate as well.

Why the Premium Numbers Look Different

Depending on which closing price you measure against, the premium on offer looks bigger or smaller. Reuters described the newest A$22.50 offer as a 19% premium over Perpetual's most recent close.

But according to figures cited by Investing.com covering the July 22.07 proposal, that bid represented a 22% premium to Perpetual's July 1 closing price, and more than 42% above where the stock closed on June 30. Both numbers can be true simultaneously. Stock prices move, and premiums are always measured against whatever baseline a given report picks. "Premium" figures should be treated as relative to a specific date, not a fixed universal number.

The Bain Capital Wrinkle

EQT's latest proposal comes with strings attached. Perpetual said the offer is conditional on the completion of the company's separate sale of its wealth management unit to Bain Capital, according to Reuters.

EQT isn't just buying Perpetual as it stands today. The firm is buying whatever's left after Perpetual finishes restructuring itself by offloading its wealth business to a different private equity buyer entirely. Until that Bain Capital transaction closes, EQT's bid for the rest of Perpetual remains contingent, not final.

What Perpetual Actually Is

Perpetual is an Australian wealth manager and trust business, according to Reuters. It's not a bank, and it's not a household name outside Australia, but it manages significant assets for Australian clients and has been a takeover target precisely because private equity firms see value in its trust and wealth management operations once the businesses are separated out.

The Unresolved Math

What number gets Perpetual's board to actually say yes remains unclear. The board has now rejected two increasingly generous offers, calling each inadequate. EQT has responded both times by sweetening the deal rather than walking away, which suggests the private equity firm believes Perpetual is worth pursuing even at a rising price.

Whether A$22.50 a share is the number that finally gets a deal done, or whether Perpetual's board pushes for a fourth round, remains unresolved as of Monday, July 27. Perpetual has not indicated in the reporting whether it will accept, reject, or counter this latest offer. Shareholders and the market will be watching for the board's formal response, along with confirmation on the timeline for the separate Bain Capital wealth management sale that this entire deal depends on.