The Atlas Arteria Group (ASX: ALX) share price is on the slide on Friday.
In morning trade, the toll road operator's shares are down 1% to $8.08.
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Why is the Atlas Arteria share price falling?
The catalyst for the Atlas Arteria share price slide this morning has been the release of an update on a potential takeover approach.
This follows news earlier this week that IFM Global Infrastructure Fund (IFM) secured a 15% stake in Atlas Arteria.
At the time, IFM also stated its intention to request access to certain limited company information, before deciding whether to submit a non-binding indicative proposal to acquire all the Atlas Arteria shares it does not already own.
What's the latest?
According to today's release, Atlas Arteria has now received a request from IFM for access to non-public and confidential information for the purpose of developing a formal proposal.
The Atlas Arteria Board has considered this request but has decided not to provide non-public information at this time while no offer has been tabled.
Though, it has offered to provide IFM with the opportunity to meet with senior management to discuss selected topics on the basis of publicly available information. This is consistent with the company's past practice in its dealings with large institutional shareholders.
Judging by the Atlas Arteria share price performance today, investors appear concerned that the company's tough stance could lead to IFM pulling its interest. Though, it clearly means business given its acquisition of a 15% stake earlier this week.
Whatever happens, it will be interesting to watch the story unfold over the coming weeks and months.
The Atlas Arteria share price is up 17% since the start of the year thanks to this takeover speculation.
