Events group UBM back in £3bn takeover talks
Exhibition company UBM last night revealed it has revived plans to merge with rival informa.
the deal, which will see informa buy all of UBM’s shares, is expected to value it at £3bn.
Yesterday shares in the FTSE 250 firm hit record highs, surging 5.2pc, or 39p, to 786.5p before UBM confirmed takeover talks were back on.
the companies said discussions were at an early stage but there was no guarantee of a deal.
it is the second time the two groups have entered into merger talks. they last attempted one in 2013 before it was aborted.
At the time both firms were members of the FTSE 250, but informa’s value is now more than twice UBM’s, at £6bn, and it is part of the FTSE 100 index.
Informa was up 0.2pc, or 1.4p, to 747.4p yesterday.
Retailer JD Sports was kicked to the top of the FtSE350 after hiking its profit forecast for the second time in four months.
the company said its profit for the full-year to the end of February will reach around £300m, following a strong performance over Christmas. Analysts had predicted profits to be around £270m to 295m.
JD said same-store sales jumped 3pc in the second half of the year and its international business had continued to perform strongly.
Performance was also boosted across its outdoors businesses, which includes blacks and camping chain Go outdoors, after the cold winter weather lifted sales of jacket sand fleeces.
henry Croft, research analyst at Accendo Markets, said JD Sports had managed to sidestep the pitfalls of its rivals by appealing to younger customers. he said: ‘its stores’ appeal to younger generations has helped fuel performance versus peers which are more geared towards their parents.
‘JD’s strong online platform likely also helps appeal to the digital-age shopper, beating high Street stalwarts whose hard-tonavigate websites frequently feel like a smorgasbord of sellers. having over 850,000 instagram followers is also sure to help appeal to the smartphone generation.’
Shares rocketed 6.7pc, or 24.4p, to 389.9p as a result. Embattled outsourcing group
Capita plunged 6.2pc, or 26p, to 395p after losing a lucrative pension contract with Prudential.
the insurance company is dropping Capita as the administrator of its life and pensions contracts – five years before the contract was initially scheduled to end.
instead Diligenta, a subsidiary of tata Consultancy Services, will take over from July 31.
When Capita first announced the tie-up in 2007, the firm said it would contribute around £722m over the next 15 years. Yesterday it said the deal had contributed £80m to its sales in 2017.
Prudential said the change in partnership is part of its five-year plan to improve its business for customers.
it said customers ‘will receive a better service – day in, day out – as a result and our colleagues will be better equipped to provide that service more efficiently.’
Prudential said it hopes to transfer 1,100 UK roles to Diligenta and avoid job losses.
the FTSE 100 finished down 0.17pc, or 13.21 points at 7755.93 while the FTSE 250 finished up 0.21pc, or 44.53 points, at 20,877.30. in the US, the Dow surged past 26,000 for the first time during early trading but had given up all of its gains by the closing bell, falling 0.04pc, or 10.33 points, to 25,792.86.
Miners were amongst the biggest fallers, after being hit by the fall in gold, copper, tin and nickel prices. Fresnillo was one of the worst hit, falling 3.5pc, or 49.5p, to 1378.5p. Rio Tinto fell 3pc, or 126p, to 4046.5p and Antofagasta fell 2.8pc, or 29p, to 1009.5p.