Bidding war erupts for UK telecoms firm

a BIddInG war has erupted for telecommunications company spirent as UK plc continues to be preyed upon by foreign predators.

The FTse 250 company has said it will recommend a 201.5p per share deal, worth £1.2bn, from California-based Keysight Technologies just weeks after it agreed to be snapped up by another Us firm Viavi for £1bn.

spirent bosses said the latest push was a ‘superior proposition’ for shareholders, lifting shares 11.7pc, or 21p, to 200p.

spirent chairman Bill Thomas said spirent’s offer ‘provides our shareholders with even greater value in cash for their shares at an attractive premium while at the same time protecting the fundamental character of spirent for all stakeholders’.

But the takeover adds to the growing list of British businesses who have been targeted by foreign buyers in recent months. This includes companies such as wincanton, Currys, all3media and direct Line.

Interest in UK plc has spiked since Covid as bidders take advantage of depressed price tags and the weak pound in a wave of ‘pandemic plundering’.

This has lingered on into the post-Covid world as opportunistic investors flock towards London’s knock-down prices,

That has fuelled concerns that British firms are being snapped up on the cheap. But there are signs the tide may be turning.

Insurance company direct Line has fought off two bids from Belgian rival ageas so far this year. and the High street staple Currys rejected an approach from Us private equity giant elliott advisors.

russ Mould, analyst at aJ Bell, commented: ‘Boards are backing themselves.’

spirent, which tests, measures and analyses telecoms devices, has suffered in an era of high inflation, with revenues in 2023 falling around a fifth from the previous year.

It has its headquarters in Crawley, west sussex, and employs about 1,500 people.

Keysight, which makes electronics test and measurement equipment, and software like network analysers and oscilloscopes, said that spirent was a ‘strong fit’ for its business.

Its offer is a 15pc premium to the Viavi offer. Viavi could not be reached for comment.