RPS backs £636m takeover swoop from Tetra Tech
Professional services group RPS said it had agreed to a £636m takeover swoop from US firm Tetra Tech today as it becomes the latest London-listed firm to be picked off by a foreign buyer this year.
RPS’s recommendation of the offer means that the firm has now withdrawn previous backing for a bid from Toronto-listed consultancy WSP Global.
Bosses at RPS said this morning that Tetra’s bid represented a 7.8 per cent premium on WSP’s proposed offer and 109.5 per cent to the 106 pence-per-share price just prior to the opening of the offer period in August.
In a statement this morning, RPS chiefs said that in light of the “superior proposal” from Tetra, they considered the takeover approach to be “fair and reasonable”.
Shares in RPS jumped over 12 per cent today after the firm said it would back the takeover.
The move will make RPS the latest firm to be snatched from London’s markets amid a flurry of deals by bargain-hunting foreign buyers this year.
France’s Schneider Electric said it would press ahead with a full buyout of software group Aveva last week, while Canadian firm OpenText said earlier last month it was poised to snap up Microfocus in a £5bn deal.
Tech darling Darktrace had also fallen into the sights of US tech buyout giant Thoma Bravo but the investor pulled back from a buyout.
British firms have proved a tempting prospect for investors with valuations depressed since Brexit, while sharp falls in the value of the pound are also likely to make British firms cheaper still for overseas buyers in the months ahead.