Continental Casualty, one of Canary Wharf’s largest independent shareholders, has decided to support Morgan Stanley’s £1.7bn offer for the Docklands developer.
The decision will come as a huge boost to Morgan Stanley’s Songbird consortium, as speculation continues over which bidder will emerge victorious.
Canary Wharf shareholders have until Friday to decide whether to back Songbird’s 275p-per-share offer or the rival offer from CWG Acquisition, the vehicle led by Brascan and backed by Paul Reichmann.
Continental controls 5.8% of Canary Wharf and is the first group to support Morgan Stanley that is not part of the Songbird consortium.
Morgan Stanley, which has the backing of the Canary Wharf board, has also insisted that 14.5% shareholder and key supporter Simon Glick, would be able to vote.
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Source: Freeman / Financial Times
