Spectris agrees to £3.8bn takeover but KKR threatens bidding war Markets Industrial group Spectris has agreed to a £3.8bn takeover by US private equity Advent but a bidding war could be brewing as KKR mulls a rival offer. The FTSE 250 firm has been valued at £37.73 per share in the deal. Shares jumped 13.5 per cent as markets opened on Monday to around 3,726. Private [...]
Bargain Britain: UK firms under siege by foreign takeovers Markets The London Stock Exchange has suffered a bruising week as private equity firms and foreign giants continue to snap up British bargains. Markets were hit with a double blow on Wednesday after Canadian consultancy giant acquired engineering firm Ricardo and KKR returned with a final bid for GP Landlord Assura. Assura has recommended a cash [...]
FTSE 100 flirts with record high but falters once more Markets The FTSE 100 once more narrowly missed on a record closing high on Wednesday after faltering in the final moments of the trading session. The UK’s flagship index edged up 0.13 per cent to 8864.35p. This brought it just short of March’s record close of 8871.31p. Housebuilders topped the morning risers with Persimmon and Barratt [...]
Canadian giant swoops for London-listed Ricardo June 11, 2025 London-listed engineering firm Ricardo has agreed to a £281m acquisition deal by Canadian consultancy giant WSP in the latest foreign takeover blow to the London Stock Exchange. Ricardo has accepted the 430p per share offer, a 28 per cent increase on the firm’s closing price on June 10 of 326p. It is a 69 per [...]
‘Extraordinary denial of reality’: Ricardo shareholder pens open letter amid vote to oust chair May 28, 2025 One of the largest shareholders in transport and energy consultancy Ricardo has blasted the firm’s “blinkered perspective” and “extraordinary denial of reality” ahead of a vote to oust its chair. Science Group, which controls around a fifth of the share capital of the London-listed business, earlier this month called for a general meeting of shareholders [...]
