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LONDON (Alliance News) - Tool and equipment hire Speedy Hire PLC on Thursday confirmed it is not considering a merger with fellow London-listed rival HSS Hire Group PLC.
Sky News reported earlier in the day that the pair had abandoned secret talks they were holding about a possible GBP300.0 million merger.
Sky said HSS and Speedy had been in preliminary talks about a tie-up until last month, but these fell apart after two Speedy Hire non-executives, Chris Masters and James Morley, opposed the merger, resulting in them leaving the company's board near the end of November.
The deal is understood to have secured the backing of a number of shareholders of the two rivals, both of which have been hit by a slew of profit warnings in the past year.
Speedy shares were down 0.2% to 34.6875 pence on Thursday, while HSS shares were up 5.8% to 55.00p.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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