Crest Nicholson parks Avant bid pending new Bellway offer

Avant Homes has proposed a £770m deal to Crest Nicholson’s board that would give Avant shareholders, including major shareholder Elliott Investment Management and former Persimmon chief executive Jeff Fairburn, 30% of the enlarged group and retain Crest’s stock market listing.

The board of directors of Crest Nicholson has assessed Avant’s proposal with its financial advisors, Barclays and Jefferies, and has concluded that it is not prepared to enter into discussions with Avant during the offer period regarding a potential all-share offer from Bellway.

Bellway revealed last month that two of its attempts to take over Crest Nicholson had been rejected, the latest for £650m. (See previous report here.) Under stock exchange rules, Bellway has until 5pm on 11^th July 2024 (Thursday), either to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Crest Nicholson or to publicly withdraw.

Only after that, it seems, could Avant’s offer be back on the table.

Last month, Crest Nicholson reported a pre-tax loss of £30.9m for the six months to 30 April 20243 after a review of completed site costs resulted in a one-off charge of £31.4m. Chief executive Peter Truscott has retired and been replaced by Martyn Clark, formerly commercial director at Persimmon, where he worked alongside Jeff Fairburn, now of Avant.

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