ASX 200 sinks, Boral rises, A2 Milk drops again

The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) fell by over 1% to 7,097 points. 

Here are some of the highlights from the ASX today:

Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)

Many of the ASX’s leading growth names suffered from a selloff today. One of the biggest declines in the ASX 200 was the Afterpay share price which fell by 8.7%.

Other growth peers also suffered. The Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price fell by 9.1%, the Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL) share price declined 8.2%, the Pointsbet Holdings Ltd (ASX: PBH) share price dropped by 7.2% and the A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M) share price went down by another 6.4%.

Boral Limited (ASX: BLD)

Boral was one of the limited number of ASX 200 shares to go up today, rising by 3.4%.

What caused the gain? You may have seen yesterday that Boral received a takeover approach from Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW).

Today, Boral recommended to shareholders that they reject the takeover offer by taking no action.

The offer was for $6.50 per share, which was a nil premium to the last closing price.

Boral’s leadership noted that there were a number of conditions attached to the offer. The committee of independent Boral directors believe that the offer is opportunistic, undervalues the company and unanimously recommended the offer is rejected.

The ASX 200 share’s management said that the company is committed to the strategic goals including the transformation targets set across the group and the ongoing process in relation to its North American portfolio.

DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS)

Dexus sent the APN Property Group Ltd. (ASX: APD) share price rocketing 47.5% higher after launching an all-cash takeover of 91.5 cents per security. That translates to an equity value of $320 million and an enterprise value of $308 million.

APN manages a number of different ASX-listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) as well as unlisted property and securities funds.

As at 31 December 2020, APN had $2.9 billion of funds under management (FUM) and $134 million of co-investments in its managed vehicles.

On completion of this transaction, Dexus will have a funds management portfolio of $23.9 million.

Dexus said that this deal will give access to a complementary and scalable business with a high-quality team and like-minded investment philosophy. It will be immediately accretive to adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per security after the deal is completed in FY22.

The property business also said that there’s potential to realise cost and revenue synergies and achieve margin expansion across the platform.

Dexus CEO Darren Steinberg said:

This transaction supports our strategic initiative of expanding and diversifying our funds management business, increasing our suite of funds on offer outside of wholesale funds into listed REITs, real estate securities funds and unlisted direct property funds. The transaction also expands out investor network to include retail and high net worth capital.

More reading

• What to expect from the Budget, and a record close for the ASX 200: Motley Fool CIO Scott Phillips on Sky News
• Why a2 Milk, Afterpay, Nearmap, & REA Group shares are sinking
• ASX shares that will benefit from the upcoming index changes
• Leading brokers name 3 ASX shares to sell today
• Flight Centre and Zip were among the most traded ASX shares last week

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and recommends Pointsbet Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Afterpay and Nearmap Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended A2 Milk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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