British engineering firm Rotork has agreed to a £4.1billion takeover by Swiss-Swedish industrial giant ABB, marking the latest major UK engineering company to be acquired by an overseas buyer.
ABB's recommended cash offer of 506p a share represents a premium of more than 70% to Rotork's closing share price on Wednesday and values the Bath-based manufacturer at around £4.1bn.
Rotork manufactures valve actuators used across the oil and gas, water, wastewater and chemicals sectors. ABB said the acquisition would strengthen its industrial automation business and expand its intelligent flow control offering.
The company said: "Rotork is a well-established global provider of mission-critical intelligent flow control solutions and a leading independent manufacturer of electric actuators.
"It has a leading product portfolio with an excellent customer track record, delivering attractive growth, averaging 8 per cent organic revenue growth and strong profitability with an adjusted operating profit margin of 24.6 per cent."
FSTE100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE 100, was down eight-points at 10,563 shortly after opening this morning.
Brent crude oil futures were up 0.13%, sitting at $84.34 a barrel this morning.
Companies reporting today
- Bridgepoint - Half Year Results
- Burberry - Q1 Results
- Ninety One - Q1 Assets Under Management Statement
- United Utilities - Q1 Trading Statement