The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on AIM in London on Thursday.
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AIM - WINNERS
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Smart Metering Systems PLC, up 41% at 956.17 pence, 12-month range 574.00p-971.00p. The Glasgow-based utility connection, smart metering and energy management provider agrees to a private equity takeover from funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. KKR will pay 955 pence per Smart Metering share, a 40% premium to the stock’s Wednesday closing price. It gives Smart Metering a £1.3 billion valuation on a fully diluted basis and an enterprise value of £1.4 billion. Shareholders will still be entitled to receive and retain the 8.32p per share second interim dividend, which SMS declared in mid-September. The acquisition offer comes from various funds advised by American global investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP, and its affiliates. KKR, Smart Metering says, will invest in the takeover largely through its $17 billion fund KKR Global Infrastructure Investors IV, which is focused on critical infrastructure investments with low volatility and strong downside protection.
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Polarean Imaging PLC, up 31% at 6.49p, 12-month range 4.80p-84.20p. The London-based medical imaging technology developer says it received its first de novo order for a new Xenoview polariser from an unnamed ‘top-tier’ academic medical centre located in the northeast of the US. Polarean says it continues to have positive meetings and is in active negotiations with additional top-tier academic medical centres. Chief Executive Officer Christopher von Jako says: ‘We are delighted to have received our first de novo polariser order from a top-tier academic medical centre, and we look forward to working closely with them to establish the use of Xenoview for their patients living with lung disease...We continue to have positive meetings with other high priority centres as they work through their budget cycle and value analysis processes, as well our already converted centres and those we expect to convert in 2024, to encourage increased utilisation of the technology in clinic.’
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AIM - LOSERS
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Vertu Motors PLC, down 21% at 67.10p, 12-month range 47.55p-88.02p. The Gateshead, England-based car dealership chain expects profit in the financial year ending February 29 to be lower than current market expectations, noting ‘a number of negative external market factors’. During the three months that ended November 30, it says it witnessed a ‘material change’ in the used vehicle market, with UK wholesale values experiencing a ‘significant’ reduction in October and November due to higher supply into the wholesale markets. This is alongside retail demand being affected by the combination of higher interest rates and high vehicle prices impacting affordability. It expects that UK used vehicle values to continue weakening above historic norms in the near term, while also noting the current consumer environment as remaining ‘volatile’.
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