Mitie has agreed a recommended cash takeover by facilities services rival OCS, valuing the group at approximately £3.1bn, in a deal that would combine two UK-headquartered businesses with revenues of around £8.5bn.
Under the terms, Mitie shareholders will receive 218.5p per share in cash, plus a final dividend of up to 3.1p which they can retain, taking the total value to up to 221.6p per share.
The price represents a 44.7% premium to Monday’s close of 151p, and 17.7% above Mitie’s all-time high of 185.7p reached in April.
Mitie shares were 38% higher at the time of writing.
The acquisition brings together two businesses with complementary strengths to create one of the UK’s largest private sector employers, they say are better placed to serve complex and critical built environments across government, defence, healthcare, national infrastructure and commercial markets, with greater capacity for investment in technology, data and AI-enabled service delivery.
It also means another UK-listed company will leave London’s dwindling equity market.
The takeover was announced alongside a strong first-quarter update.
Revenue rose 10% to £1,406m in the three months to 30 June, including 4% organic growth driven by new wins, projects and pricing, net of a 2% drag from prior-year Technical Services contract losses.
Contract wins and renewals jumped 33% to £1.6bn of total contract value, while the bidding pipeline reached a record £32.5bn, with more than 70% due to be awarded within 18 months.