Peel responds to Harworth’s continued rejection of £583m takeover
In the latest round of the ongoing battle for control of Harworth, Peel has questioned the company’s financial performance and strategy.
Peel Pepper (UK), the company behind the all-cash offer for Harworth, said it would carefully review Harworth’s response to its bid and issue its detailed views in due course.
However, it has already criticised what it described as declining net asset value and low returns at Harworth.
Peel said Harworth’s EPRA NDV per share fell 4.3% to 214.8p in the first half of 2026, while statutory NAV per share fell 4.2% to 206.5p.
It also highlighted a total accounting return of negative 1.4% over the last 18 months, saying this continued the trend of low and declining returns it had previously identified.
Peel questioned Harworth’s new target of achieving “low double-digit TAR in the longer-term”, describing it as “unsubstantiated and unconvincing.”
It also said Harworth had provided no support for delivering its previous, already extended, target of £1bn in EPRA NDV by 2028-29.
The bidder also criticised Harworth’s cashflow performance, pointing to a 6% fall in headline rental income, a 4.9% increase in administrative costs and a 47.6% rise in net finance costs in H1 2026 compared with H1 2025.
Peel said Harworth’s decision to completely exit the residential sector was unlikely to optimise returns for shareholders, given the challenging market and the reported £234m valuation of the segment.
It also criticised what it described as a lack of meaningful detail around Harworth’s data centre strategy.
Peel said Harworth’s powered land portfolio did not yet have full planning consent and that, despite “Site 2” being under exclusivity for a potential conditional sale, any cash receipts could be as late as 2033.
Harworth published its response to Peel’s all-cash offer alongside its half-year results yesterday, setting out its reasons for rejecting the bid.
