US private equity company Lone Star has walked away from a potential takeover of Regus owner IWG, announcing that it does not intend to make a formal offer. It emerged last month that the investor had made an approach to buy the serviced office provider amid a flurry of interest. But on Monday it said that it had ceased the process, although it did not disclose the reason for pulling out. IWG has been subject to an unprecedented number of potential takeover bids in recent months. Lone Star was one of three interested parties flagged up by the office group in May, along with Starwood Capital and TDR Capital who had both made indicative proposals to buy the company. Last week IWG rebuffed an offer from Prime Opportunities, a Los Angeles-based family office, which was understood to have offered a price too low for the company’s board to accept. Investors had previously been disappointed after takeover approaches came to nothing. In February, when Canadian private equity firm Onex and Brookfield Asset Management walked away from talks for a potential takeover which had begun at the end of last year.
Lone Star has ceased talks with IWG announcing that it will not make a formal offer for the office group without disclosing the reason for terminating the negotiations.