Rotherham-based land developer Harworth Group said it plans to become “a pure play powered land and industrial & logistics specialist” and will exit the residential property sector.
Harworth published half year results for the six months ended June 30, 2026, and separately published its response document to the unrecommended takeover offer for Harworth by Peel Pepper (UK) limited, a company indirectly wholly-owned by Peel Holdings Group Limited.
Last month, Harworth rejected a £583 million cash takeover offer from Peel priced at 172.5p per Harworth share. Harworth shares are currently trading around £1.75.
Harworth reported a first-half operating loss of £24.9 million (H1 2025: £7.1m profit) and a loss after tax of £25.4 million (H1 2025: £9.7m profit). First half EPRA NDV (Net Disposal Value) fell to £697.7 million from £725 million.
Harworth said: “EPRA NDV reduction principally driven by residential market headwinds, namely softer demand and increased costs in housebuilder end markets … ”
On the Peel offer, Harworth said: “As previously announced, the board is unanimous and unequivocal in its rejection of the Unrecommended Offer, which, in its view, fundamentally undervalues Harworth and its near- and longer-term prospects.
“The Response Document sets out in full the Board’s views on the Unrecommended Offer and the reasons for the Board’s unanimous and unequivocal rejection of the Unrecommended Offer …
“The unrecommended offer is at a 19.7% discount to Harworth’s EPRA NDV (Net Disposal Value) as at 30 June 2026 …
“Harworth’s EPRA NDV as at 30 June 2026 of £697.7 million, or 214.8 pence per Harworth Share, is based on independent, professional valuations of Harworth’s current standing assets and land portfolio net of applicable taxes …
“These independent valuations have been supported consistently by a track record of disposals and lettings by Harworth across market cycles …
“The unrecommended offer is highly opportunitstic …
“The Board believes that the Unrecommended Offer is timed to take advantage of the current material dislocation between Harworth’s share price and the value of its underlying assets, driven by macroeconomic factors affecting the UK listed real estate sector as a whole …
“If Peel Bidco acquires all of the Harworth Shares, the Unrecommended Offer will allow Peel Bidco to extract for itself, the value upside from future returns derived from the capital invested by Harworth in its data centre and industrial & logistics pipeline over the last few years and the initiatives announced today, which are in the early stages of implementation, all at the expense of other Harworth Shareholders.”
Harworth CEO Lynda Shillaw said: “Harworth has made good operational and strategic progress during the first half of 2026 and into the second, against a challenging macroeconomic backdrop that has weighed on valuations, particularly in residential.
“Since 2021 we have successfully repositioned our land and development portfolio, shifting the weighting to 71% industrial & logistics and developing a significant powered land bank, in turn positioning the business to deliver strong returns to shareholders into the medium term.
“Our 34.8m sq ft land and development pipeline, which includes 0.8GW of powered land, would be difficult to replicate today given its scale, together with the advanced planning and power supply status, and strategic locations, of many of its sites.
“Within this pipeline, we are seeing strong occupier demand across our industrial & logistics products, driven by structural growth trends. This includes the first pre-let at our 1.1m sq ft Chatterley Park site in Staffordshire, to an advanced manufacturing occupier. Our largest-ever substantially construction-ready land bank of 3.8m sq ft positions us to further capture this momentum through a combination of pre-lets, land sales and small to mid-box speculative builds.
“Today we are providing more details on our acceleration of key initiatives, which builds on our successful track record over the past five years and, supported by our in-house skillset and extensive land bank, means we are well positioned to take full advantage of the compelling opportunities that lie ahead.
“The Board believes that its execution will create a simpler, lower-cost and higher-returning platform to deliver future growth for Harworth shareholders.”