Offer values Spectris at £4.4 billion Advent paying an 85% premium KKR not out of the running yet Precision instrumentation and controls maker Spectris (SXS) said it had agreed terms with funds managed or advised by US private equity firm Advent International to take over the UK company for £4.4 billion including around £600 million of debt. Spectris shares jumped 500p or 15% to £37.82,...

There's a quiet re-rating going on in the UK stock market which suggests investors are slowly waking up to the bounty of value opportunities. The non-stop takeover action was the biggest clue as to prizes up for grabs, given bids are still coming thick and fast. Trade buyers and private equity companies have been taking advantage of cheap valuations for multiple years, and now retail and...

The takeover bandwagon is picking up speed as the year progresses with deals seemingly now being announced each week. On 9 June US chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM:NASDAQ) agreed to take over Alphawave IP Group (AWE), which designs high-speed data transmission technology and licences it to semiconductor designers and manufacturers, much like Cambridge-based ARM (ARM:NASDAQ), once the UK's biggest...

Stocks in London closed mostly higher on Thursday as investors awaited the outcome of the UK general election.Pollsters currently have Labour waking up to a majority, marking the first time that the party has been in power since 2010.The FTSE 100 index closed up 70.14 points, or 0.9%, at 8,241.26. The FTSE 250 ended up 80.92 points, or 0.4%, at 20,610.34, while the AIM All-Share closed...

Stock prices in London were higher at midday Thursday, as voters continue to turn out at poll stations to deliver what is expected to be a general election victory for the Labour party for the first time since 2005.The FTSE 100 index was up 66.66 points, or 0.8%, at 8,237.46. The FTSE 250 was up 41.98 points, or 0.2%, at 20,571.24, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.67 points, or 0.1%, at...

Profit seen missing forecastsIssues are company-specificAnalysts set to cut estimatesSpecialist engineering firm Spectris (SXS) confirmed the sceptics' view of the company by lowering its full-year operating profit forecast to 'at or below' the bottom end of the consensus.The shares slumped 450p or 14% at the open to a 12-month low of £27.50 before recovering to £29.50 for a loss of 8% in...

Like-for-like sales down 8%Chinese demand softensFull-year guidance unchangedWhen we lifted the bonnet on FTSE 250 precision equipment-maker Spectris (SXS) back in March, we suggested the first-quarter update would be the first test of whether analysts were on track with their downbeat views on the firm's prospects.As expected, the group reported a decline in like-for-like revenue against a...

Whenever there is a discussion about ?quality? UK industrial stocks, the name Spectris (SXS) is often thrown into the ring although we suspect many investors, while being familiar with the company in a general sense, have little idea what it actually does.Looking on Stockopedia, the company has a 99th percentile quality ranking, which backs up its reputation, but it is classified as a...

Stock prices were up in London at midday on Tuesday, as investors showed confidence despite interest decisions from the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England and European Central Bank coming up this week.Heading into the afternoon, investors also had their eye on a US inflation reading on Tuesday.The FTSE 100 index was up 39.53 points, 0.5%, at 7,584.42. The FTSE 250 was down 4.61 points at...

Over the last 15 years the electronics and electronic equipment space, home to some of the UK market's highest-quality engineering and capital goods firms, is the best performing sector in the FTSE 350 with an 11.7% compound annual return.The industrial engineering sector is not too far behind with its own annualised return of 9.7%. For comparison, the FTSE All-Share's annualised return over...

Firmly out of favour with investors since the Brexit vote seven years ago, the FTSE 250 index rallied strongly on the release of the latest UK inflation data (19 July). This showed UK CPI rising by 7.9% year-on-year in June, lower than forecasts of an 8.2% rise, theoretically reducing expectations for the scale of future interest rate hikes from the Bank of England.Yet even after a big one-day...

Targeting largely defensive and highly regulated niches, Smiths Group (SMIN) has created a virtuous circle of high barriers to entry and increasing market share. Better still, it is in the middle of a transformation capable of adding millions in value for shareholders.Smiths' calls itself a 'pioneer of progress' with a diverse portfolio of engineering operations with safety at their heart....

Spectris (SXS) £28.48Gain to date: 5.1%Original entry point: Buy at £27.09, 28 April 2022We're pleased to say it has been 'full speed ahead' for precision measurement firm Spectris (SXS) since our initial recommendation in April.Despite growing evidence of a global slowdown, organic sales have continued to grow at an impressive rate and the firm has continued to return capital from the sale...

Spectris (SXS) £29.34Gain to date: 8.3%We tipped specialist engineering group Spectris (SXS) at £27.09 at the end of April after the firm announced it was disposing of its low-margin Omega unit and handing some of the proceeds back to investors.Not only did we applaud the firm's attitude to capital allocation - selling a business which was sub-scale rather than pouring money into it to make...

Sensor and testing equipment specialist Spectris (SXS) announced its first acquisition since announcing the £403 million sale of its Omega Engineering business in April.The company has signed a purchase agreement to acquire California-based Dytran Instruments for £66 million.While the size of the deal is modest, that shouldn't detract from what it can bring to the business and investors have...

Specialist sensor and testing equipment maker Spectris (SXS) surprised the market with the recent announcement (19 Apr) it was selling its Omega Engineering division and returning most of the proceeds to investors via a share buyback.The shares, which had been languishing close to 12-month lows, jumped 5% to top the FTSE 250 on the day but we believe there is much more to come from this...

Electronics firm Spectris (SXS) has agreed a deal to sell its Omega Engineering business to Arcline Investment Management for £403 million and announced plans to buy back £300 million worth of shares.Investors have given the news a warm welcome as the shares are marked 5.5% higher to £26.53.Omega is a specialist sensor business and while it is expected to return to pre-Covid levels of...

Potential bidders could soon emerge again for Oxford Instruments (OXIG) as confidence builds around the scientific equipment maker's financial performance.The company was recently the subject of a takeover bid by fellow FTSE 250 constituent Spectris (SXS), but the deal fell through, with Spectris backing off due to 'significant uncertainty in global economic conditions.' Oxford Instruments saw...

The economic instability in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine continued to spread after electronics giant Spectris (SXS) pulled the plug on its $2.4 billion acquisition of science equipment designer Oxford Instruments (OXIG).'Oxford Instruments is a quality company and the strategic and financial rationale for a combination of our businesses is highly compelling,' said Spectris chief...

Leading UK stocks were pulled down by mining and bank stocks in early trade on Thursday, while Unilever (ULVR), which supplies all sorts of everyday goods we all use, like butter and tea, warned that inflation pressure could last far longer than many anticipate.The consumer brands firm saw its share price rise nearly 2% to £38.905 early on as its third quarter numbers proved to be resilient,...