Ashtead drops Lavendon interest

18th Jan 2011 07:58

Plant hire group Ashtead has ended its bid interest in Lavendon after a firm rebuttal from the board of the powered access platform group.Lavendon unanimously rejected an "opportunistic" 115p per share offer from joint bidders Ashtead and Belgium's Thermote & Vanhalst. The joint bid had pre-conditions of access to Lavendon's books and the recommendation of the board. "Lavendon's rejection means these pre-conditions cannot be fulfilled," Ashtead said. TVH Services, the principal holding company of forklift truck and aerial platforms firm Thermote & Vanhalst, has already had two previous stabs at winning over Lavendon.Lavendon said the the offer "significantly undervalues" the business and it had "no hesitation" in turning down the proposal.