portfolio and reinforce its long-term com-
mitment to Mongolia”.
Stausholm, 53, said: “With our relation-
ship reset and the underground operations
commenced, this transaction demon-
strates our clear and unequivocal long-
term commitment to Mongolia.”
Turquoise Hill said that it would be “es-
tablishing a special committee of inde-
pendent directors to review and consider
Rio Tinto’s proposal”.
Rio Tinto shares closed down 265p, or
4.8 per cent, at £52.99.the times | Tuesday March 15 2022 45Two British flexible office providers are set
to merge in what would create a £1.5 billion
business targeting UK and European
domination of a sector whose credentials
have been burnished by the pandemic.
The Office Group and Fora want to
become “the premier flexible workspace
company in the UK and Europe”.
Their tie-up is subject to regulatory
approval, which can take months in some
cases, and they have yet to decide what the
new combined group would be called or
whether it would maintain both brands.
The plan is to open more offices across
Europe.
Assuming that the merger gets the
green light from the Competitions and
Markets Authority, the enlarged business
would have 72 sites boasting more than
three million sq ft of office space in Britain
and Germany. Key to the chunky valua-
tion is that between them The Office
Group and Fora own the freeholds to 21 of
their buildings. By contrast, many rivals,
including WeWork, the American giant,
generally lease their spaces.
Olly Olsen, co-founder and co-chief
executive of The Office Group, said. “The
strong strategic and cultural fit between
our two businesses and the supportivemarket dynamics, as businesses embrace
flexible working, make this merger an
exciting proposition.”
Enrico Sanna, co-founder and chief
executive at Fora, said: “Businesses are
increasingly recognising that the work-
place is no longer a commodity, but rather
a space that can be used to actively drive
improved productivity, collaboration and
the wellbeing of their teams.”
Flexible office space used to be the pre-
serve of nimble start-ups that did not
know how many staff they would have in a
year’s time or even if they would still be
around. Its mainstream appeal has grown
as the pandemic pushed more businesses
into adopting flexible working policies.
Among The Office Group and Fora’s
tenants are names such as Ocado, the on-
line supermarket, GlaxoSmithKline, the
drugs maker, and BP, the oil major.
The Office Group was founded in 2003
by Olsen, 49, and Charlie Green, 51, his co-
chief executive, with the first office open-
ing a year later. Fora was founded by
Sanna, 48, and Katrina Larkin, 52, in 2015.
Its majority shareholder is Brockton
Capital, the property investor. Olsen will
be chairman of the combined group.
Sanna will be its chief executive, Green its
president and Larkin will be environment,
social and governance officer.Flexible office providers aim
for premier place in merger
Tom HowardMongolia mine
Business
RIO TINTO
The Oyu Tolgoi
project enables
Rio to diversify
but has been
hit by disputesdiate and certain value for their shares at a
time when uncertainties inherent in the
development of the underground opera-
tions and funding of such development
remain”.
The C$34-a-share cash offer represents
a 32 per cent premium to Turquoise Hill’s
last closing price on the Toronto Stock
Exchange and will require the approval by
a majority of the votes cast by Turquoise
Hill minority shareholders. For Rio, it
would “simplify the Oyu Tolgoi ownership
structure, strengthen Rio Tinto’s copper