* Avast among top FTSE 100 gainers on buyout deal
* Deliveroo drops, says no material impact from re-opening
* Meggitt jumps 16.1% to record high
* FTSE 100 up 0.8%, FTSE 250 adds 0.8%
(Updates to market close)
By Shashank Nayar and Ambar Warrick
Aug 11 (Reuters) - Britain's domestically focused mid-cap
index closed at a record high on Wednesday after aerospace
supplier Meggitt sky-rocketed on a new $9.7 billion takeover
offer, while the FTSE 100 ended at an 18-month peak on gains in
major financial stocks.
The mid-cap index surged 0.8% to a record high of
23,756.83 points, with Meggitt serving as the biggest
boost after it said it received a preliminary proposal from U.S.
rival TransDigm Group.
Meggitt's shares climbed 16.1% to a record high after the
offer, days after it agreed on a bid from Parker-Hannifin
.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to finish at
7,220.14 points, its highest level since Feb 2020. Financial
stocks and export-oriented sectors such as mining and consumer
staples were the biggest boosts.
Avast was among the top gainers on the FTSE 100, up
3.1%, after U.S. based NortonLifeLock Inc agreed to buy
the company for $8.6 billion in cash and shares to create a
leader in consumer security software.
Positive earnings, cheap interest rates and re-opening
optimism have pushed the FTSE 100 up 11% this year. But it has
lagged its peers in the developed world, due to its lower
exposure to technology firms, which had thrived during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Food delivery company Deliveroo dropped 6.1% after
it said there was no material impact from the wider reopening of
restaurants in its biggest market, Britain, in the second
quarter.
"The pandemic has clearly offered a structural growth
opportunity for Deliveroo, but the longer-term outlook depends
on how demand holds up in a post-pandemic world," said Susannah
Streeter, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, in a note.
Among the gainers, British motor insurer Admiral
rose 3.9% after it reported a 76% surge in first-half earnings
and announced a 27.1 pence special dividend.
Provident Financial jumped 10.2% to a seven-month
high after its half-yearly adjusted profit surged.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar and Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru;
Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Barbara Lewis)
