精东影视

German insurer Allianz may have started a bidding war for PFI specialist John Laing by trumping an offer from fund manager Henderson.

Allianz has put in an bid of 385p a share, 30p more than Henderson鈥檚. Laing has announced it is recommending Allianz鈥檚 offer, which values the company at 拢957m. Several weeks ago it recommended the Henderson offer.

Allianz鈥檚 bid sent John Laing鈥檚 shares soaring to 395p and they continue to trade at this level, prompting speculation that Henderson could come back with a higher bid, or that another firm may enter the competition.

William Forrester, chairman at John Laing, said the firm would 鈥渂enefit from accessing funds that attract a competitive cost of capital and an international network of financial services specialists鈥�.

It is understood that Allianz is attracted to Laing because the length of a PFI contract is similar to that of an insurance policy, so the income generated by a PFI would match its own liabilities.

They are also keen to take advantage of the expected expansion of PFI and PPP into the rest Europe.

Allianz has already shown an interest in PFI.

Last year it bought 50% of the equity in four PFI projects managed by Laing. These were the Gravesend firearms training centre, the Durham and Cleveland firearms training centre, south-east London鈥檚 police stations and greater Manchester鈥檚 police stations.

If the Allianz deal goes ahead, Laing shareholders will have to pay a 拢9m break fee to Henderson for withdrawing the recommendation for its offer.

Break fees are negotiated by bidders to discourage the target from talking to other companies. There is no break fee associated with the Allianz bid.

Allianz鈥檚 move may prompt others to put in offers. Potential bidders include the Deutsche Bank Infrastructure Fund, the Australian bank Macquarie, HSBC, Spain鈥檚 Ferrovial,Balfour Beatty or PFI investor the Secondary Market Infrastructure Fund.