LONDON, June 25, 2026, 16:09 (BST)
- DCC ended up 0.3% at 6,225 pence, still 300 pence short of the cash element offered in the proposal.
- The 6,672.22-pence headline package has a 147.22-pence dividend, which went ex on May 28.
- The next bid deadline is July 8. It could be pushed back again if regulators agree.
DCC Plc shares gained 0.3% to 6,225 pence in late trade Thursday. That leaves a 300 pence, or 4.8%, spread for anyone buying in now versus the planned 6,525-pence cash offer.
KKR & Co Inc (NYSE:KKR) and Energy Capital Partners offered £5.7 billion for DCC, with the 6,672.22 pence per share figure including DCC’s 147.22-pence final dividend. The board said it would likely back the deal if a formal offer comes in on these terms and the documents are done.
Shares went ex-dividend on May 28, with payment set for July 23. Anyone buying now won’t get that dividend. So if you compare Thursday’s ex-dividend share price to the earlier 6,672.22 pence, there’s 147.22 pence per share that’s already come off.
The change brings the upside down to 4.8% from 7.2%, a drop of around 2.4 points. DCC traded just 1.9% under its 52-week peak of 6,345 pence, even though the cash-bid spread hasn’t closed.
Funds shifted positions around the spread as new offer-period disclosures rolled in. Wellington Management reported a 2.30% long stake and a 0.06% short. On Wednesday, it purchased 2,947 shares at £62.1178.
Citadel showed 2.48% in long positions, mostly using cash-settled derivatives, and had shorts at 0.08%. Its cash deals were done between £61.55 and £62.30. Societe Generale put in a 1.70% long side and 1.21% short. There’s no clear directional bet here on whether the deal gets done.
DCC is up 34.0% so far this year through Wednesday, beating the FTSE 350 (INDEXFTSE:NMX) by 29.0 points. For the last five years, DCC has climbed 4.1%, while the index is up 39.0%.
DCC is trading at 6,225 pence, roughly 14.2 times its adjusted continuing earnings per share of 438.1 pence for the last year to March. The suggested cash offer works out to 14.9 times that. DCC posted continuing adjusted operating profit up 3.6% at £634 million. Free cash flow was £689.6 million. Return on capital employed stood at 16.8%.
DCC pushed back on the original 5,800-pence bid in April. Berenberg’s James Bayliss said the offer arrived at a “heavily opportunistic” time and called for “a significant uplift” for shareholders. From RBC Capital Markets, Andrew Brooke said “a good chance that a deal happens” but wondered how much higher a bidder would go over the market price. The cash offer on the table now is 12.5% more than the initial bid. Reuters
The consortium faces a 5 p.m. London deadline on July 8 to either make a firm offer or walk away, unless DCC pushes for more time and the Irish Takeover Panel signs off. So far, there’s no firm offer.
