While Covid-19 lockdown is going on there is a boom in London’s takeovers as a £7bn bid for insurance giant RSA was followed by deals in property, food and tech sectors, which drove up shares in Aviva and Hiscox.
Wellcome Trust’s investment arm snapped up property group Urban and Civic for £506m and Mr Kipling Cakes owner Premier Foods sold Hovis to private equity group Endless. Sportech the betting technology firm hehind The Tote, received a £54 million ($71 million) bid from Standard General, a US hedge fund which was rebuffed as Sportech share price soared 20 per cent and cyber security giant Aveva launched a £2.84 billion rights issue to fund its £5bn deal to buy America’s OSI Soft.
G4S is fighting off a takeover from GardaWorld, while Mc/carthy & Stone’s baord has come under fire for accepting a takeoveroffer which undervalues the retirement homes builder.