Bidders said to be closing in on Invensys deal
A BID for Invensys could be nearing following reports this weekend that interest in the signal and control maker has escalated in recent weeks.
Siemens, General Electric, ABB and Emerson are all said to have approached Invensys in the past few weeks, although no official offer has been tabled, following years of interested parties circling the FTSE 250 company.
These four companies in particular have been repeatedly linked to Invensys over the last two years, with traders speculating in autumn 2010 that an offer could come in at up to 400p per share.
But the engineering group was thought unlikely to put itself on the auction block before offloading its £4.2bn pension scheme.
Invensys, which makes control and signalling equipment for railways, was on track to ditch the “poison pill” last summer but the plan was curtailed when costs escalated to £1.7bn.
However, speculation about a possible takeover has been ongoing.
The British company currently has a market cap of £1.65bn, at a share price of 203p, but it is expected a bidding war could push the price past the £2bn mark.
Invensys publishes its full year results this Thursday, following a profit warning in January that forecast a £60m cut in operating profits.
The announcement, which Invensys put down to problems with product installation in China and a delay in some of its smaller contracts, sent the group’s shares down by 19 per cent.
But Invensys’ stock has been oscillating within a 50p range over the last six months amid ongoing takeover speculation and soon regained.
Invensys declined to comment.