By Charlie Conchie
A medical technology firm which supplies the NHS has become the latest company to fall into the sights of private equity today, as bidders capitalise on low prices and swoop on listed British companies.
Medica, which delivers “diagnostic support” and telemedicine services, said it struck a £269m take-private deal with a firm controlled by London-based private equity outfit IK Partners. Bosses said they would recommend the offer to shareholders.
The offer represents a 32.5 per cent premium on the firm’s share price on the 21 April, the last date before the offer was made. Shares in the firm surged by over a third today after the deal was announced to the market.
The bidding firm said it considers Medica to be a “high-quality business that is a leader in the global teleradiology and wider imaging diagnostics sector”.
“Over the past few years, Medica has begun to diversify and internationalise the range of services that it offers. [The bidding firm] believes that Medica is better able to achieve its full potential in a private market setting enabled by the acceleration of investment in growth,” Medica and the bidder said in a statement to the market.
Founded in 2004, Hastings-headquartered Medica was admitted onto the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 2017. The firm has over 400 staff globally with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the US and Australia.
The take-private swoop for the firm comes amid a flurry of deals in recent weeks. Payments giant Network International and metering firm Sureserve were among the companies to fall into the sights of private buyers last week.
Analysts have been predicting a wave of takeovers this year as private equity buyers put stored up cash to use and take advantage of lower prices in London. A number of firms were also picked off last year amid a downturn in the market, with Ted Baker and transport firm GoAhead among the names to be taken private.
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