Nursing home chain North American Senior Care has taken the lead again in the running for ownership of Beverly Enterprises Inc. North American raised its bid to $13 per share.
The offer, which is valued at more than $1.9 billion, trumps a bid offered last week from real estate investment trust Formation Capital, which offered $1.86 billion for the Fort Smith, AR-based chain.
Beverly, now known as BEI, Wednesday announced an amended agreement with North American Senior Care, which had first bid $12.80 per share last week. As part of the agreement, if another group enters a higher bid and wins, BEI owes North American Senior Care a termination fee of $40 million.
“This has been a lengthy and very comprehensive process, involving detailed financial and legal analyses that the board of directors has conducted in close consultation with its independent advisors,” said BEI CEO Bill Floyd, whose company was the object of a hostile takeover bid last January by Formation Capital and its partners.
