Renishaw ‘still a target’ in Footsie feeding frenzy
SHARES in takeover target Renishaw fell yesterday after German giant Siemens insisted it was not planning to launch a bid.
The stock tumbled more than 8pc in early trading after Siemens said ‘it does not intend to make an offer’ for the FTSE 250 firm amid speculation it was about to swoop.
But shares recovered, down just 2.5pc, or 110p, to 4240p, as analysts said Renishaw remained a prime target for predators. The interest came as Peel Hunt warned the London stock market was falling victim to a ‘relentless’ takeover ‘feeding frenzy’ as British firms are targeted by foreign bidders.
Engineering group Renishaw, which specialises in metal 3D printing, was set up by David McMurtry and John Deer in 1973.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘ While Siemens may have poured cold water on speculation that it wants to buy Renishaw, the latter still remains a prime takeover candidate.
‘It has specialist skills and a long track record of generating value for stakeholders.’
The FTSE 100 rose 0.03pc, or 2.35 points, to 7937.44 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.20pc, or 39.75 points, to 19,753.64.
Shares in Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services rose 4.3pc, or 9.8p, to 236.4p after it outlined plans to overhaul the postal service that would save it £300m a year.
Hilton Food Group reported a 3.7pc rise in revenues to £3.99bn for last year alongside a 64.2pc increase in profits to £48.6m. But it warned that ‘markets remain challenging’. Shares rose 1.64pc, or 14p, to 868p.
Topps Tiles said a reluctance by customers to splash out on bigticket items will hit profits. Sales fell 5.9pc to £122.6m in the six months to March 30. Shares dropped 3.9pc, or 1.7p, to 42.3p.
Bank note printer De La Rue will work with Microsoft to supply authentication stamps for another five years. Shares slid 0.7pc, or 0.6p, to 81.6p.
An investment firm that owns around five million shares in Dr Martens has called on the British bootmaker to consider putting itself up for sale. Marathon Partners
Equity Management last month told the company that its status as a public company is ‘likely no longer in the best interest of shareholders’, Reuters reported. Shares added 2.5pc, or 2.25p, to 92.5p.
BT sank into the red, falling 4.6pc, or 5.05p, to 104.7p, after UBS lowered its rating and urged clients to sell the stock. The investment bank is expecting downgrades in the telecoms giant’s update next month.
Genedrive jumped 38.7pc, or 1.45p, to 5.2p after a UK regulator recommended that the NHS should use the molecular diagnostics firm’s test to find the best medication for stroke patients.
Oxford BioDynamics has been given the go-ahead to start offering its prostate screening blood tests at its new clinical testing site in the UK. Shares fell 0.11pc, or 0.01p, to 9.3p.