(Alliance News) - North Atlantic Smaller Cos Investment Trust PLC on Friday said it was "pleased" with Sureserve Group PLC, after it said it has reached a takeover agreement with Cap10 Partners.
Sureserve said it reached an agreement with Cap10 4NetZero Bidco, a company indirectly owned by Cap10 Partners, on an all-cash takeover for the energy service provider.
Cap10 is a pan-European mid-market private equity firm.
Cap10 will pay 125 pence for each Sureserve share, a 39% premium to its closing price of 90p on Thursday. The company said this values it at around GBP214.1 million.
Sureserve shares surged 37% to 123.37p each in London on Friday morning.
The Sureserve board said it considers the terms of the acquisition to be "fair and reasonable". The board intends to unanimously recommend the acquisition at a general meeting, expected to be held in June.
North Atlantic Smaller Cos said the offer price will increase its own net asset value by GBP8 million. The sale of Sureserve shares will represent a profit of just over GBP16 million since purchase by the investment trust.
At the end of March 2023, North Atlantic Smaller Cos said cash and cash equivalents balances amounted to about GBP95 million and the sale on completion will increase this to approximately GBP120 million.
Sureserve Chair Nick Winks said: "Under Bidco's private ownership, without the costs and regulation of a listed company, Sureserve should be able to pursue its strategy more productively and thereby sooner achieve leadership in helping our customers transition from traditional heating fuels to renewable alternatives."
Meanwhile, Cap10 said it believes that Sureserve is a "high-quality business with a demonstrable track record of delivering growth in a mission critical market." It also said it expects Sureserve will accelerate its growth through mergers & acquisitions under private ownership.
Co-Managing Partners of Cap10 Fabrice Nottin & Serge Touati said: "Sureserve is well-positioned to bring a full suite of products and services to its customer base to support them in all aspects of their energy transition journey. We are fully supportive of Sureserve's intention to become the strategic partner to social housing landlords, local authorities and other public sector bodies to help them achieve their goals to (i) reduce fuel poverty across, and the carbon footprints of, their estates, and (ii) enhance the quality of living of their tenants."
Takeovers have dominated company news in the past week.
Middle East and Africa-focused payments provider Network International Holdings PLC jumped 9.3% to 393.40p in London on Friday. It said it has received another takeover offer, this time from Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.
On Monday, Network International confirmed that it has received a non-binding takeover proposal from a private equity consortium.
Prior to this, Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC had surged some 40% last Friday, as it confirmed it had entered discussions about a possible offer from private equity firm EQT.
Shares in North Atlantic Smaller Cos were up 1.00p to 3,461.00p each in London on Friday morning.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter
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