Another UK firm is sold overseas

BRITISH energy services provider Kentz has fallen into foreign hands after being snapped up by Canadian engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group.

Shares soared by almost 33pc to 929p as the £1.16bn takeover was cheered by investors.

Montreal-based SNC said the acquisition of the FTSE 250 company would enable it to carry out larger and more complex oil and gas projects.

It will also give it a much greater presence in key growth regions such as the Middle East, North America and Asia Pacific.

Kentz shareholders will receive 935p per share, a premium of a third on the stock’s price at the end of trading on Friday.

The boards of both companies unanimously approved the deal.

But it will be viewed more critically by those who fear the UK is forfeiting control of many of its most successful or promising companies.

Kentz is just the latest in a long line of British firms to be acquired by foreign rivals, including confectioner Cadbury and technology firm Autonomy.

Since it went public in 2008, Kentz has grown quickly into a global construction company with mining, oil and gas and infrastructure projects around the world.

Its success has attracted the attention of foreign suitors before. Kentz rejected an offer from Germany’s M+W Group, as well as British rival Amec, last year.