Canada-based property management company Oxford has sweetened its bid for Australian real estate investment trust Investa Office Fund to $4 per share, trumping U.S.-based private equity firm Blackstone’s sweetened offer of $3.9 per share.
The new offer, which values Investa at A$3.35 billion ($2.41 billion), comes ahead of its shareholders' plan to vote on Blackstone’s $2.37 billion offer for the Australian landlord.
Under Australian takeover rules, bidders must wait four months to re-approach a target after declaring an offer unequivocally final.
In May, Blackstone raised $2.2 billion for Investa, betting on the future of commercial property across Australia’s east coast.