Advent International agrees $1.4 bln takeover of Laird

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Private equity firm AdventInternational has agreed to buy British electronics andtechnology business Laird, the firms said on Thursday,valuing its issued equity at around 1 billion pounds ($1.38billion).

Laird shareholders will be entitled to receive 200 pence incash for each Laird share held, compared to the closing priceper Laird share of 115.9 pence on February 28.

The Laird Directors, advised by Rothschild, J.P. MorganCazenove and Numis, consider the terms of the deal to be "fairand reasonable", the company said in a statement.

High asset prices in private transactions is increasinglypushing buyout funds to target publicly listed companies.

Advent has invested in more than 330 buyout transactions in40 countries. As of September 30 2017, it had 35 billion eurosin assets under management.

($1 = 0.7263 pounds)(Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva, editing by Sinead Cruise)