Dynegy (DYN) shareholders today were expected to vote on the hotly-contested buyout offer from The Blackstone Group (BX), which yesterday was raised from $4.50 per share to $5 per share. Now, the power company has postponed the referendum until next Tuesday.
In a statement, the company said:
Dynegy’s Board of Directors believes that this 11% increase in the merger consideration, to $5.00 in cash per share, is a very important development that Dynegy stockholders should have an opportunity to consider before there is a vote on both the merger proposal and, if necessary, the proposal to adjourn the special meeting to solicit additional votes for the merger proposal.
Not exactly sure why an extra 50 cents per share requires six more days of consideration. My best guess is that Dynegy felt it was going to lose the vote, so is huddling up with Blackstone to regroup. I can’t imagine that the private equity firm would go any higher than it’s “best and final offer” of $5 per share — let alone to the $6+ demanded by activist hedge fund Seneca Partners — but I also didn’t think Blackstone would budge from $4.50.
Maybe the extra time will give all parties a chance to cool off, and perhaps work out some sort of consensus …