Cinven to take over Spice in £250m deal
Spice, the biggest installer of water meters, has agreed to a £251.1m takeover offer from Cinven after rebuffing two earlier offers, Spice said in a statement.
Spice shareholders will receive 70 pence per share from Cinven’s Cilantro Acquisitions, it said in a regulatory disclosure.
Spice had agreed to a period of exclusivity with Cinven until 27 September after rebuffing two earlier offers.
Simon Rigby, founder and former chief executive of Spice, said earlier this month that 70 pence a share would be a “tidy” amount, though it remains a far cry from the highs of 130 pence the shares reached in 2007.
Shares in Spice closed on Friday at 66.5 pence. The price being paid by Cinven represents a 40.7 per cent premium to the share price on the last day before Spice announced it had been approached.