UK's IP Group rebuffs top investor Railpen's $810 million takeover proposal

June 23 (Reuters) - Early-stage science investor IP Group said on Tuesday it has rejected a takeover proposal valuing it at around £613.1 million ($810 million) from its largest shareholder Railpen, saying the offer "materially undervalued" the company.

Here are some more details:

• London-based Railpen, which manages over £34 billion in assets for railways pension schemes, holds an 18.38% stake in IP Group, according to LSEG data.

• Railpen's final proposal includes 59 pence per share in cash, a distribution of IP Group's Oxford Nanopore stake, and a contingent value right of up to 5 pence per share tied to a potential sale of IP Group's Istesso holding.

• IP Group said it unanimously rejected the proposal, following three earlier approaches from Railpen.

• IP Group says, excluding the contingent element, the proposal implies a value of about 69.4 pence per share, representing a 6.7% premium to IP Group's last closing price.

• However, it is a discount of 37.2% to IP Group's net asset value of 110.4 pence per share as at December 31, 2025.

($1 = £0.7569)

(Reporting by Neeshita Beura in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)