GoCompare has rejected an unsolicited takeover offer by the owner of Zoopla and uSwitch valuing the business at nearly £420m.
The price comparison group said the proposal “fundamentally undervalues GoCompare and does not reflect the strong growth prospects of the company” and was rejected this month.
It marks the latest unsolicited approach by ZPG this year, according to GoCompare, which said it received an initial offer that valued the company at 110p per share in May.
That proposal was also rejected by GoCompare’s board on the grounds that it undervalued the business and its prospects.
GoCompare said the most recent proposal by ZPG offered 110p per share in a combination of cash and shares, valuing the company at about £418m. This represented a 16% premium to GoCompare’s closing share price of 95p on 7 November.
But GoCompare said it also represented a discount to its closing share price of 110.5p on 11 October, which was less than one month before ZPG put forward its proposal.
GoCompare said it had made “significant progress” in the year since its separation from Esure Group, and that the board was confident about GoCompare’s full-year prospects.
The company’s share price closed at about 72p on its first day as a separately traded company in November, after the demerger from Esure.
The company’s chair, Sir Peter Wood, said: “ZPG’s proposal is highly opportunistic and fundamentally undervalues the company and its prospects.”
GoCompare shares closed higher by nearly 10%, or 9.25p, at 102p on Tuesday.
