Property companies Argan and WDP plan merger to create new €13 billion company

PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - Property companies Argan and Belgium's WDP announced on Thursday plans to merge and create a new company which they said would be worth €13 billion ($14.8 billion).

The deal would see three newly issued WDP shares for each Argan share.

Argan would also propose an exceptional payout of €11 per share prior to completion of the merger, representing a total implied valuation of €79.22 per Argan share and marking a 21% premium to Argan's closing price of €65.40 on Thursday.

($1 = 0.8791 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Chris Reese)