Frenzy buoys builder as it rejects Bovis overture

SHARES in Galliford Try leapt after its rejection of a £950m bid for its housebuilding and regeneration arm sparked a frenzy of takeover talk.

The company spurned the offer from Bovis Homes over the weekend, saying its rival had not offered enough cash.

But although talks had ended yesterday, analysts claimed a fresh approach from Bovis or rival bidders could still be on the cards.

Tony Williams, a building value analyst, said the figure should have been closer to £1.3bn.

‘Will this flush another bidder out? Possibly,’ he said. ‘Would Galliford want to sell off the crown jewels? Possibly not. But some shareholders may see what’s being offered and be tempted.’

Under the proposed deal, Bovis would have bought Galliford’s housing and regeneration divisions, which include Linden Homes, but not the rest of its construction business.

Yesterday investors piled into Galliford, with shares rising 3.6pc, or 19.5p, to 558p. That took the overall stock market value from £600m on Friday to nearly £620m.

It came as mining stocks rose 2pc higher on the back of a firmer iron ore price. Rio Tinto was 2.9pc, or 134p, higher at 4776p and BHP rose 1.9pc, or 34p, to 1834p.

Also adding its sprinkle of magic to the sector was the natural resources team at HSBC, which upgraded Anglo American (up 0.4pc, or 8.4p, to 1952.4p) to a ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, and raised Chilean copper specialist Antofagasta (1.7pc, or 13.8p, firmer at 815.8p) to ‘hold’ from ‘reduce’.

Away from the diggers, there was a rare day in the sun for NMC Healthcare, the Abu Dhabi private hospitals group. The shares rose 7.5pc, or 182p, to 2620p after it nudged up its revenue and earnings guidance and said it would take a larger than expected stake in a joint venture with Saudi Arabia’s largest pension fund which it described as “one of the top landmark events” in its history.

The FTSE 100 oscillated between positive and negative territory and ended the session down 8.79 points at 7268.95. Could there be hope for Thomas Cook, to which American investment bank Citi recently ascribed a valuation of zero pence a share? Well, according to German broker Berenberg, possibly, yes.

But only if it receives a punchy white knight offer for its airline business. Lufthansa is known to be waiting in the wings, with other bidders apparently ready to pounce. So, a bidding war for the planes business, while unlikely, is not out of the question. Shares, which have halved in value this year, closed 21.2pc, or 2.75p, higher at 15.75p.

While Mike Ashley is still reportedly in negotiations to sell Newcastle United to a Dubai sheikh, eyes yesterday were on a deal his company Sports Direct had actually completed.

This was the sale and leaseback of its Shirebrook warehouse in Derbyshire, known in some quarters as the ‘gulag’ because of the reportedly tough working conditions there. Shares closed 3.3pc, or 9.2p, higher at 290.8p.

Jangada Mines saw its share price plumb new depths as they fell 36.9pc, or 0.78p, to 1.32p after the firm unveiled plans to sell a project in Brazil amid difficulties finding an investor to back it. Fellow digger Hummingbird

Resources also had its wings clipped after warning that costs for 2019 were likely to exceed previous estimates per ounce of gold mined at its project in Mali, sending the shares down 4.2pc, or 0.62p, to 14.25p.