Hands bid gets heavy over windfarm operator Novera Energy

Corporate raider Guy Hands today raised a clenched fist in his increasingly hostile takeover bid for AIM-listed windfarm operator Novera Energy.

Ahead of next Monday's takeover deadline and in response to Novera's defence document published yesterday, Infinis, the green energy arm of Hands's Terra Firma empire, said recalcitrant shareholders have a one-time opportunity to sell up at its offer price of 62½p, a 43% premium to the six-month average price of Novera's stock.

It accused Novera of "operational under-performance" and of missing key windfarm targets. Infinis claimed Novera had targeted 300 megawatts of windfarms in planning by the end of 2009 and 250MW installed by 2011. Instead, it says Novera currently has 49MW in planning and predicts it will only have 77MW installed by the end of 2011.

It also warned Novera will need to raise "significant funds" to help build its planned windfarms and which could dilute current shareholdings.

Infinis has 42% of Novera and needs just over 50% to take control.