Metlifecare buyer needs weekend to finalise $1.49b takeover bid

Metlifecare, developing Auckland's Gulf Rise, is a potential takeover target. Photo / Supplied

Metlifecare's mystery buyer has completed due diligence for its $1.49 billion takeover bid but needs the weekend to get final approval for the deal.

The retirement village operator's board completed negotiations for a scheme implementation agreement – which needs a lower level of support than a formal takeover to get across the line – at $7 a share. That's up from the initial $6.50 offer that was rejected by Metlifecare's major shareholders and a small premium to company's $6.96 a share net tangible asset value.

The shares last traded at $6.38 and have jumped from $5.08 before the unsolicited suitor emerged in November.

The would-be buyer's final approval process is due over the weekend, after which the scheme will be signed off. Until then, there is no assurance the negotiated deal will proceed and trading in the shares remains halted, investors were told through a statement on NZX.

The scheme will be subject to the usual conditions, it said.

The trading halt will stay in place until midday on Monday or when Metlifecare makes an announcement.

Metlifecare also has $100 million of listed debt.

When rejecting the initial offer last week, the board said it had received two other expressions of interest from rival buyers and that its internal valuations indicated a price in excess of $8 a share, depending on the assumptions used.