UK's Warehouse REIT agrees to $661 million Tritax takeover bid over Blackstone

(Reuters) -UK's Warehouse REIT accepted a 485.2 million pound ($661 million) takeover offer from Tritax Big Box REIT on Wednesday, walking away from a previous deal with Blackstone agreed in early June.

Tritax's cash-and-stock offer values Warehouse at about 114.2 pence per share as of June 24, the day before the agreement was disclosed. It also includes quarterly dividends of up to 1.6 pence per Warehouse share.

Meanwhile, Blackstone's cash offer was at 110.6 pence per Warehouse share, or about 470 million pounds, which also included a dividend of 1.6 pence per share.

"The Tritax deal is not only at a higher level to the previous offer for the Company, but provides Warehouse shareholders with the opportunity to retain both the fourth and first quarter dividends," Warehouse Chair Neil Kirton said in a statement.

Shares of Warehouse climbed 5.2% to 112.4 pence in early trade and were among the top gainers on the FTSE small-cap index, while Tritax's stock traded marginally lower.

Private equity major Blackstone did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.

U.S.-based firms have been snapping up British assets recently, taking advantage of a market that is plagued with comparatively weaker valuations and stunted growth.

Warehouse and Tritax said that Warehouse's directors had also withdrawn their recommendation for Blackstone's offer in favour of the latest proposal, adding that Tritax had received undertakings from investors holding about 8.36% of Warehouse.

($1 = 0.7341 pounds)

(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Rashmi Aich)