Latest news with #Spectris
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
London-listed Spectris soars 20% on fresh takeover interest from Advent
-- Shares of Spectris PLC (LON:SXS) surged by over 20% in London trading following a Bloomberg News report that private equity firm Advent is considering a takeover of the UK-based precision and testing equipment maker. The potential acquisition comes as Spectris shares had previously dropped about 18% this year, valuing the company at around £2 billion ($2.8 billion). Spectris, which employs 7,600 people across more than 30 countries, specializes in developing high-tech instruments, testing equipment, and software for various industries, including life sciences, automotive, electronics, and semiconductors. Asia is a significant market for Spectris, contributing to about 36% of its revenue last year, with Europe and North America following closely. This news of potential acquisition interest comes after a failed takeover attempt by Bain Capital and Advent International in 2018, which was abandoned amid the political uncertainties brought on by Brexit. Under the leadership of CEO Andrew Heath, Spectris has been streamlining operations since 2018, focusing on its core business in the scientific and dynamics divisions. This strategic shift followed a decline in first-quarter sales due to weakened demand in key sectors such as automotive and semiconductors. Despite the challenging market conditions, Spectris has been optimistic about mitigating the impacts of tariffs and achieving strong growth in adjusted operating profit by 2025. Related articles London-listed Spectris soars 20% on fresh takeover interest from Advent AppLovin would be more valuable without its 1P games, Morgan Stanley argues Morgan Stanley downgrades Lululemon on weak US growth outlook
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fresh blow for London as US buyers mount £5bn raid on stock market
Two major British companies are poised to join the exodus from the London stock market after American rivals made multibillion-pound takeover offers for each. On Monday, semiconductor company Alphawave recommended a $2.4bn (£1.8bn) sale to US chip giant Qualcomm while high-tech equipment maker Spectris urged shareholders to back a £4.4bn sale to private equity house Advent International. The deals would mean both companies would cease to be listed in London, dealing a fresh blow to the City just days after Wise, the British financial technology champion, announced it was moving its main listing to New York. Both takeovers will also see the American buyers pay substantially above the share prices that their British targets commanded beforehand, prompting suggestions they may have been undervalued by London investors. Qualcomm's offer is more than 90pc above Alphawave's share price before talks began in April and the Spectris bid is 84pc higher than its stock price on Friday. Charles Hall, head of research at Peel Hunt, said: 'The bids for Spectris and Alphawave show how undervalued UK listed companies are given premiums of 85pc and 96pc respectively.' 'It continues the constant theme of companies leaving the market, with 30 takeovers of scale and just one initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in 2025.' 'Urgent action is required if we want a healthy UK equity market that supports our listed companies and encourages the next generation of companies to list.' Qualcomm said it was buying Alphawave to aid its expansion into data centres, which are becoming increasingly important in the race to develop artificial intelligence (AI) software. Alphawave is a specialist in technologies that 'drive faster, more reliable data transfer with higher performance and lower power consumption', a joint statement by the companies said. This means its products 'form a part of the core infrastructure enabling next-generation services in a wide array of high growth applications, including data centres, AI, data networking and data storage'. Silicon Valley giants such as OpenAI, Google and Amazon are racing to acquire more data centre capacity to help train their AI programmes. Tony Pialis, the president and chief executive of Alphawave, said: 'Together, we will unlock new opportunities for growth, drive innovation, and create a leading player in AI compute and connectivity solutions. 'For our shareholders, the Alphawave board is pleased that Qualcomm's offer provides an opportunity to realise compelling value for their shares.' Spectris, which is headquartered in London, makes various high tech instruments, including particle measuring systems used in the pharmaceutical industry. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
US predators pounce in deals frenzy: Chip designer Alphawave backs £1.8bn bid £3.7bn as Spectris is eyed by Advent
Foreign predators have scooped up two cutting-edge UK-listed firms. The deals announced yesterday are another blow to the battered prestige of the London Stock Exchange. Chip designer Alphawave revealed that it had agreed to a £1.8billion takeover by America software giant Qualcomm. And scientific instruments maker Spectris said it was 'minded to recommend' a £3.7billion approach by US private equity firm Advent. Each firm is being snapped up at nearly twice its market capitalisation – the latest evidence that the bombed out London market is leaving its listed firms severely undervalued. Charles Hall, head of research at broker Peel Hunt, said it showed an 'urgent rethink' is needed. The deals mark the latest setback to the City's ambitions to attract promising growth firms and see them flourish as UK public companies. Instead, firms are stampeding for the exits as they are taken over or choose to cross the pond themselves in search of higher valuations. Yesterday's announcements threatened to overshadow efforts by ministers to showcase Britain's attractiveness to cutting edge companies, at the start of London Tech Week – with a starring role at the event for Jensen Huang, the boss of chip giant Nvidia. Darius McDermott, managing director at research group FundCalibre, said: 'It's a telling contrast – the Prime Minister courts Jensen Huang just as another UK tech success story, Alphawave, is set to be acquired by an American buyer.' Coming just days after fintech firm Wise said it would switch its listing from London to New York, it was 'another sign of UK public markets' fragility', McDermott added. The deal also follows the departures to Wall Street in recent months of betting giant Flutter, building materials firm CRH and equipment hire group Ashtead. Speaking at the start of London Tech Weak, Founders Forum boss Carolyn Dawson said the Wise move should be a 'resounding wake-up call' for the City. Peel Hunt's Hall said there had been 30 bids for major UK companies so far this year at a total value of £25billion, with Spectris and Alphawave the largest. At the same time, there had been just one UK initial public offering at a valuation of more than £100million. 'Companies in the UK seem to be far more attractive to acquirers than investors,' Hall said last night. 'The root cause is the consistent outflow of capital from domestic markets. 'If we want UK equity market to thrive, an urgent rethink is required to ensure that UK capital backs UK companies.' And noting the big premiums of 85 per cent and 96 per cent offered by the buyers of Spectris and Alphawave, Hall added: 'The scale of premiums show how undervalued the UK market is.' Canada-based Alphawave designs chips for data centres, facilities that physically store data, for example for cloud computing. Alphawave listed in London in 2021 in what was then a coup for the City alongside a series of other UK listings, including Wise. For buyer Qualcomm, the takeover helps it diversify away from smartphone chips – a market it dominates but where phone makers such as Apple are increasingly opting for in-house processors. Meanwhile, UK-based Spectris disclosed yesterday that it had received several earlier approaches from Advent, which must make a formal offer by July 7 or walk away, under UK takeover rules.
Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Times
Spectris shares jump 60% on takeover offer from Advent
One of the UK's leading listed industrial technology companies is to be taken private after receiving a £3.75 billion takeover offer from American private equity. Shares in Spectris, whose stock has been on the slide for the past 18 months, leapt more than 60 per cent on the news. Given the premium that the bidder, Advent International, is prepared to pay — £37.35 a share, more than 80 per cent over the £20.38 closing price of Spectris last week — the board of Spectris confirmed that it was 'minded to recommend unanimously' the offer. Advent is a buyout specialist based in New York that has long been interested in picking up undervalued UK industrial companies and then breaking them up to extract huge profits. In the past six years it has spent £6.6 billion buying Cobham and Ultra Electronics, two substantial FTSE 250 companies, in deals that have subsequently led to a number of divestments. In a statement to the stock market, Spectris said Advent was offering £37.35 cash for every Spectris share and would honour the commitment of Spectris to pay shareholders an already agreed 28p dividend. It said: 'The proposal is subject to satisfaction or waiver of a number of customary pre-conditions, including completion of satisfactory due diligence and agreement of definitive transaction documentation.' Spectris, a leader in high-tech instrumentation and testing equipment, said it had opened its doors for due diligence to begin. Four years ago it proposed a merger with Oxford Instruments that would have made the combined entity a £5 billion world leader in the magnetic resonance imaging scanners used in hospitals. That deal fell apart during the market volatility that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In late 2021 Spectris shares had been trading at more than £40. In the ensuing three years, as Spectris reported falling revenues and profits, the stock halved. During the recent market volatility caused by the Trump trade wars, the shares had fallen to as low as £15. On Monday shares in Spectris closed up £12.26, or 60.2 per cent at £32.64. That was significantly short of the Advent offer, which could indicate some doubt that the transaction will go through at the bid price. 'We and many investors have increasingly seen Spectris as a takeout target, especially with the group having simplified its portfolio in recent years and with it trading at a discount to US peers,' JP Morgan analysts said in a note.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
London's FTSE stalls after four-week sprint as trade tensions dominate
By Purvi Agarwal and Pranav Kashyap (Reuters) -London's benchmark equities index was flat on Monday after a four-week bull run, in caution as top U.S. and Chinese officials met in London to try and defuse a high-stakes trade dispute. The FTSE 100 closed flat at 8,832.28 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.6%. A meeting with top officials from the U.S. and China unfolded in London that investors hope will produce some progress in de-escalating trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies. The discussions emerged from a phone call between the nations' respective presidents last week, where they pledged to continue dialogue amid a trade war that threatens a global supply chain shock and slower economic growth. British finance minister Rachel Reeves will hold a meeting with Chinese vice premier He Lifeng, although there were no details on when the talks would be held. London stocks rounded off the previous week with gains and logged a fourth straight week of advances, the longest in nearly five months. A U.S. jobs report on Friday allayed concerns of an economic slowdown in the world's biggest economy despite a U.S. tariff roller coaster. The non-life insurers index led losses among sectors, ending down 1.3%. Pharma stocks dipped 0.4%, as investors looked to book some profits. Among individual stocks, WPP slipped 2.8% to the bottom of the FTSE 100 after the ad group said its Chief Executive Officer Mark Read would retire by the end of 2025. Spectris soared 60%, leading FTSE 250 gains, after the scientific instruments maker said it has received a takeover proposal from private equity firm Advent valuing its shares at 37.35 pounds per share. Alphawave jumped 18.9% after U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm agreed to acquire the semiconductor company for about $2.4 billion. Asset manager M&G rose 3% after UBS upgraded its rating to 'buy' from 'neutral'. Sign in to access your portfolio
