Global real estate developer Limitless yesterday confirmed it had made a cash offer for London-based property firm Minerva which valued it at more than double its recent market price. The 160 pence per share offer price gave a sharp boost to Minerva shares, which had ended Friday at 72p. They were up at 123p at 1103 GMT, having earlier hit 141.50. The Limitless offer values Minerva at about £258 million (Dh1.89bn).

Minerva said its board will recommend the offer from Limitless, a unit of Dubai World, which is conditional on a financial evaluation as well as Minerva board endorsement. “Discussions are ongoing and there can be no certainty that an offer will be forthcoming even if the pre-conditions are satisfied or waived,” Minerva said in the statement.  “Limitless reserves the right to increase the level of its proposal if a competitive situation arises. Limitless also reserves the right to decrease the level of its proposal to reflect any dividend Minerva pays to its shareholders, it said.

A Limitless spokeswoman said: “We can confirm the contents of the statement from Minerva”, but declined to comment further.

Limitless, headed by CEO Saeed Ahmed Saeed, describes itself as an integrated real estate development company. It was set up with the objective of diversifying and globalising Dubai’s portfolio of leading development companies by using the know-how and exposure gained by Dubai World’s real estate initiatives through sister company Nakheel.