The dance is over. Segro has accepted a £14.3B takeover offer from U.S. giant Prologis. 

The deal will be the largest-ever European real estate deal and one of the largest deals for any European company in any sector to be struck this year. 

And in one swoop, it removes 20% of the market capitalisation of the UK listed real estate sector — Segro, with a 100-year history, was the largest listed UK property company by far. 

The acquisition tips Prologis’ assets under management to just over $200B (£149B) and creates a European portfolio spanning 368M SF. Its market capitalisation was $138B before the deal was announced, making it the world’s second-largest REIT. 

The courtship goes back to March 2024, when Prologis first bid for Segro, an offer that was never made public. Prologis made four bids from June to July of this year before sealing the deal.

The value and deliverability of data centres has been a key question during takeover talks between the two companies, and the combined company will have a short- to medium-term data centre development pipeline of 6.2 gigawatts, with another potential 12.5 GW in longer-term opportunities identified. 

Prologis initially offered £12.6B for Segro in June, the same level as the European firm’s net asset value. Segro’s board dismissed that offer as an attempt to buy the company “on the cheap.” 

The offer that was eventually accepted was a 14% premium to Segro’s 30 June net asset value and a 39% premium to its share price before Prologis’ bid was revealed.