London Stock Exchange holds car boot sale for foreign buyers amid flood of acquisition interest

The London stock market has become a car boot sale for foreign buyers looking for a bargain.

British tech company Spirent Communications is the latest company to fall prey to overseas bidders, yesterday agreeing to a £1bn takeover by US rival Viabi Solutions.

The deal comes as insurance company Directline, electric car chain Currys and transport company Wincantons are all interested in buying the British company.

This follows a deal drought, but it’s just the beginning of a feeding frenzy as stock market punishment wipes out millions of dollars in London company valuations and cheapens stock prices. Bank officials predict.

Foreign buyers are also growing more confident in investing in the UK, as data suggests the economy is already emerging from a mild recession.

Arizona-based Viavi pounced on Spirent, which has lost half its value over the past year due to declining profits in a tough market.

However, the West Sussex-based company’s shares rose 62% yesterday to 176.10p, just above Viabi’s offer of 175p per share.

The acquisition marks a major shift in the way foreign buyers are turning to private equity to finance bids, rather than using their own cash resources.

Viavi is using a combination of its own cash and a £313m loan from acquisition company Silverlake.

This allowed Viavi to make a knockout bid for Spirent’s stock at a 61 percent premium without expanding its own balance sheet.

Private equity firms are flush with around £3.4tn of unspent cash, so-called dry powder, which could be used to fund further British acquisitions.

Charles Hall of investment bank Peel Hunt says 40 British companies left the London market last year.

“The small- and mid-cap sector is particularly vulnerable and stands to lose a core source of economic growth and tax revenue if nothing is done,” he warned.

Spirent’s acquisition also means another company will be lost from London’s shrinking stock market, with companies such as gambling company Flutter, building materials group CRH and travel group TUI exiting.

Spirent’s roots go back to 1936, when Jack Bowthorpe used £2,000 of his family’s cash to set up a business to “fill a niche in the electrical and electronics market”.

The company’s current focus is on 5G technology used in mobile phones.

vans lift in fleet booster

VANS posted its biggest sales increase since 1998 last month as its vehicles support growth in the auto industry.

The number of registered vans increased by 2.2% to 17,93.

The Automobile Manufacturers and Trade Association called it the best February performance in more than a quarter century.

According to SMMT, the automotive industry has returned to growth after the pandemic, with total vehicle registrations increasing by 14% to 84,886 vehicles.

Meanwhile, sales of electric cars have fallen by a fifth, amid calls for the Prime Minister to cut VAT on electric cars and their charging points.

The number of registered electric vehicles reached 35,900 in two months as leasing companies and businesses bought them, but only 6,500 of those were owned by private drivers, down from 7,900 a year earlier.

SMMT said reducing VAT on electric cars from 20% to 10% would save the average buyer £4,000.

MONZO’s great value

DIGITAL bank Monzo is valued at £3.9bn after raising new funding.

The bank, known for its bright coral cards, added another 2 million people last year and now has more than 9 million customers.

It has raised £340m from US investor CapitalG, which is owned by Google’s parent group Alphabet and also backs Airbnb and Duolingo.

Monzo is currently planning to enter the US market.

to serve

Treasurer Jeremy Hunt was given the extra money ahead of the Budget after the services sector grew for a fourth consecutive month, with the number of new jobs increasing at the fastest pace in nine months.

According to the study, the sector’s growth is supported by increased corporate spending and consumer spending.

Economists said the data suggested the economy had “turned the corner” and was recovering from a mild recession.

Companies also reported a “solid increase” in new order volumes, demonstrating renewed confidence in investment.

That’s kind of rich, Jeff.

AMAZON founder Jeff Bezos has successfully dethroned Elon Musk and once again becomes the richest person on the planet.

Mr Bezos has topped the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time since 2021 with a fortune of £157bn, thanks in part to the soaring value of Apple’s shares.

Meanwhile, the value of tycoon Musk’s Tesla has fallen as investors are wary of declining sales of electric cars.

Apple is now worth £1.37 trillion, but Mr Bezos still owns 10% of the company.

He founded Amazon as an online bookstore in 1994 with his ex-wife Mackenzie Scott from their garage in Washington, USA.

Tesco pay rises

Tesco is spending £300m to increase staff pay to match pay rises at rivals.

Britain’s biggest supermarket, which employs 330,000 people, has announced a 9.1% pay rise.

Basic hourly pay will rise from £11.02 to £12.02, while salaries for employees based within the M25 will rise from £11.95 to £13.15.

Retailers need to raise wages to retain staff, but the Bank of England has raised concerns that a wage spiral could make it harder to generate inflation.