Private equity keeps picking off London-listed firms – and Westminster barely notices
Bodycote is the latest FTSE 250 industrial company set to fall to an overseas bidder, despite the government’s talk of ‘reindustrialising’ The UK is in the business of “reindustrialising”, says the prime minister. If we are, an increasing portion of the activity will be under foreign ownership. Tuesday brought yet another overseas private equity swoop on a FTSE 250 industrial firm. This time it’s…
Private equity firms are aggressively acquiring London-listed industrial companies, despite the government's rhetoric of "reindustrialising" the UK. Bodycote, a Macclesfield-based firm specializing in heat treatment and metallurgical technologies, is the latest victim of this trend. The US buyout firm Veritas has agreed to purchase Bodycote for £1.65bn or 940p a share, or £1.85bn including debt.
However, the market's sentiment is cautious as rival European private equity firm CVC may attempt to match the offer, as evidenced by Bodycote's shares closing at 955p. This string of foreign takeovers raises questions about the UK's efforts to reindustrialize and regain control over its industrial sector.
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