Halma has agreed to acquire Dreampath Diagnostics, a Strasbourg-based provider of automated systems for tracking and storing patient tissue samples, in a deal worth up to €275m.

The FTSE 100 life-safety technology group is paying an initial €154m (£132m) in cash, on a cash- and debt-free basis, funded from existing facilities. A further earn-out of up to €121m (£104m) is payable based on Dreampath’s performance over the two years to March 2027 and 2028, split 38%/62%. The business is forecast to generate revenue of €33m in the 12 months to 31 March 2027.

This is the latest acquisition by Halma, which has already announced a string of deals this year as it pursues a strategy of growing through identifying and acquiring SMEs.

“Our growth strategy is to acquire small to medium‑sized companies that are aligned with our purpose, and to grow them over the long-term. Through this growth strategy, we aspire to double our earnings every five years while maintaining high returns,” the Halma website reads.

Dreampath is the latest firm that fits the bill.

The company is the leading provider of automated systems that allow anatomical pathology laboratories to track, store and manage tissue samples throughout the diagnostic process. With international regulations requiring samples to be retained for a minimum of ten years, demand for secure, traceable and scalable storage is well-supported.

By automating largely manual workflows, Dreampath’s technology improves traceability, reduces the risk of misidentification, and boosts efficiency at a mission-critical stage of the patient journey.

The platform combines hardware, software, and a high proportion of recurring-revenue consumables in a closed system. This profile fits neatly with Halma’s preference for niche businesses with durable growth drivers.

The acquisition adds tissue sample traceability, archiving and lifecycle management capabilities to the group’s Healthcare Sector, complementing its existing Healthcare Enablement portfolio.

Dreampath will operate as a standalone company within the sector, led by its current management team.

Persistence Gold Group is investing £3.51m in GoldStone Resources (LON: GRL) at 1p/share. This will fund a drilling programme at the Homase mine in Ghana to enhance the JORC mineral resource, plus exploration and mine planning. Persistence Gold can appoint one director while it owns more than 15% – the current stake is 20.96%. Strand Hanson has been appointed broker. The share price jumped 22.7% to 0.675p, which is still well below the subscription price.

Legal services provider Knights Group Holdings (LON: KGH) full year revenues rose 28% to £207.7m and pre-tax profit was 19% higher at £33.2m. The total dividend has been raised 17% to 5.63p/share. Cash generation funded acquisitions and net debt was slightly higher at £65.4m. Pre-tax profit is forecast to improve to £36.4m this year. The share price is 3.465 higher at 194.5p, having been above 198p at one point.

Outsourced surgery provider One Health Group (LON: OHGR) grew full year revenues 11% to £31.6m and pre-tax profit improved from £1.9m to £2.7m. This year the new surgical hub is being built and that will reduce interest income, so there could be a small dip in profit. This year’s estimated capex is £8.5m, but there should still be net cash by the end of March 2027. Once the new surgical hub is up and running there will be a much higher depreciation charge, but cash generation will improve. Forecasts do not include any contribution from the surgical hub. This provides upside to profit forecasts from 2027-28 onwards. The share price increased 3.09% to 250p.

Oriole Resources (LON: ORR) announced the results from the recent drilling at the MB01-S deposit at the 50%-owned Mbe gold project in Cameroon. They show northern, western and southern extensions to the geological model. An updated mineral resource estimate should be published in the third quarter. The share price rose 2.7% to 0.38p.

FALLERS

Phoenix Copper (LON: PXC) announced a £2.3m fundraising at 0.5p/share and a retail offer that could raise £500,000 is planned. The cash will repay short-term debt owed to Indigo Capital – currently $1.564m – and fund ongoing costs. There will also be funds spent on detailed engineering at the Empire copper project in Idaho. The share price dived by three-fifths to 0.44p.

Granicus Holdings, which sold Everfex to Fiinu (LON: BANK), has sent a letter to major shareholders in the Plugin overdraft developer. The writer of the letter is former Everfex boss Karol Oleksa. The letter criticises the Fiinu management for the 2025 loss. A review of the Everfex business identified problems not disclosed at the time of the acquisition. Fiinu is suing the seller due to breaches of restrictive and covenants and seller warranties. The claims are valued at £16m. The share price dipped 4.76% to 5p.

Restructuring and property advisory business BTG Consulting (LON: BTG) improved full year pre-tax profit from £23.5m to £25m. There were contributions from acquisitions, but organic revenue growth was 8%. Net debt was £1m at the end of April 2026. Canaccord Genuity upgraded its pre-tax profit forecast to £26.5m. The share price declined 4.7% to 111.5p.

Seascape Energy Asia (LON: SEA) executive chairman James Menzies is taking medical leave-of-absence for an initial three-months following a cycling accident. The share price slipped 1.69% to 87.5p.

The FTSE 100 rose in early trade on Monday as the UK equity market shared some of the cheer emanating from the English football team after their victory in Mexico overnight.

But gains for London’s leading index quickly faded, and the FTSE 100 was marginally negative at 10,669 at the time of writing.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the FTSE 100 was trading within touching distance of all-time highs at 10,910 this morning, after the index’s defensive nature provided a source of outperformance in recent weeks before more cyclical stocks entered the fray today.

St James’s Place was the top riser as a rally in financial stocks continued into a second week. Prudential rose 1.8%.

AI-related stocks Experian and RELX were also among the top risers, with bargain hunters adding them to their portfolios as last week’s wobble around AI showed signs of stabilisation.

Barratt Redrow extended recent gains on Monday, rising 2% to 289p. Barratts has traded as low as 236p in recent weeks.

IAG was higher in sympathy with Easyjet’s ‘agreement in principle’ for a 690p takeover.

Fresnillo was hit by a decline in silver prices amid concerns about rising interest rates. Halma was the top faller, shedding 2.6%.

ITV’s sale of its broadcasting arm to Sky was the standout FTSE 100 corporate story on Monday. The group has long been under pressure to break up to unlock value in the content business, with many seeing the broadcasting business as a drag on the studios’ business, which is thriving in the new era of streaming.

“ITV’s decision to sell its broadcasting arm to Sky for £1.6 billion marks another significant step in the reshaping of the European media landscape as big players compete in a highly competitive environment,” said Susannah Streeter, Chief Investment Strategist, Wealth Club.

“It comes at a tough time for journalists, producers and crews in the industry who are already reeling from deep cost-cutting programmes at the BBC.

“Traditional broadcasters are having to change tactics fast in the battle for audiences whose attention is increasingly fragmented across streaming platforms, social media and online video, making advertising revenues harder to sustain. By bringing together two of Britain’s biggest broadcasting operations, the deal promises greater scale and opportunities to improve efficiency, while drawing on decades of industry expertise.”

ITV has agreed to sell its Media and Entertainment business to Comcast-owned Sky for up to £1.6bn, in a deal that will hand around £950m back to shareholders and leave ITV Studios as a standalone, London-listed global content company.

Rumours of a break-up have been swirling for years as investors have pressured ITV to unlock the value in its content business, which many saw as being held back by a stuttering broadcast arm.

And the deal has finally been struck for a base consideration of £1.4bn, comprising £1.2bn in cash plus Sky’s Love Productions business, the maker of the Great British Bake Off, valued at £200m.

A further £200m in contingent cash could follow in the second half of 2028 if ITV’s total advertising revenue exceeds £1.7bn in 2027.

“At a headline value of up to £1.6bn, the sale of ITV’s M&E division will deliver a significant cash return to shareholders,” said Andrew Cosslett, Chairman, ITV.

“Crucially, the transaction also unlocks the value of ITV Studios which post completion will be a distinctive pure-play global content business, with a strong track record of success and excellent prospects, further underpinned by a long-term partnership with ITV M&E and Sky.”

Separating a business that has been integrated for decades is expected to incur separation costs of around £185m gross expected over the next three to four years, leaving net cash proceeds of roughly £1.05bn.

Proceeds will first reduce ITV Studios’ leverage to around 1.5x net debt to EBITDA, after which the board plans to return around £950m to shareholders. This equates to 25p per share and roughly 90% of net proceeds.

Central to the deal is a long-term content supply agreement between ITV Studios, ITV M&E and Sky, covering flagship programmes including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island and I’m a Celebrity. The partnership carries a minimum spend commitment of £2.1bn over 2028-2032, giving the studio business solid revenue visibility as it goes it alone.

ITV shares were little changed, trading up 1%, at the time of writing.

Tekcapital portfolio company Innovative Eyewear grew second-quarter net sales by 71% year-on-year to around $1m, marking the smart eyewear maker’s twelfth consecutive quarter of revenue growth.

First-half sales at the Nasdaq-listed company, which manufactures smart glasses under the Lucyd, Lucyd Armor, Reebok, Eddie Bauer and Nautica brands, also rose approximately 71% to $1.77m. Growth continues to be led by the Lucyd Armor smart safety eyewear line, with sustained demand across direct-to-consumer, online marketplace and wholesale channels.

The retail footprint is expanding, too. During the quarter, Innovative Eyewear secured an initial purchase order from a leading Canadian optical retail group with 345 locations, with product deployment expected to begin in the third quarter. In the US, the company has been awarded a 50-store test with one of the world’s largest retailers, due to commence in September.

Innovative Eyewear expects its wholesale and bricks-and-mortar push to become a meaningful driver of revenue in the second half of 2026 and beyond, with further details on both relationships promised as they progress.

“Our preliminary second-quarter results reflect broad-based momentum across our smart eyewear portfolio,” said Harrison Gross, CEO of Innovative Eyewear.

“What excites me most is how quickly our team is opening the wholesale channel. With an initial order in hand from a leading Canadian optical retailer operating 345 locations, and a 50-store test secured with a major U.S. big-box retailer, we believe we are building the foundation for a transformative expansion of our retail presence and our revenue in future periods. Lucyd products bring a clear competitive edge over other smart eyewear, thanks to our breadth of styles, ANSI certification, premium build quality and affordable price points. Retailers recognize the value in our portfolio, and these two new wholesale partners are just the beginning. I expect Lucyd products to be on many new store shelves in the next year.”

Greatland Resources produced 79,099oz of gold and 3,573t of copper in the June quarter, taking full-year output to 328,986oz of gold.

Notably, production was 6% above the top end of its 260,000-310,000oz guidance range for FY26.

The AIM and ASX-listed miner sold 74,648oz of gold and 3,531t of copper during the most recent quarter, bringing full-year sales to 326,859oz and 14,729t, respectively.

The strong finish to the year further bolstered the coffers. Cash stood at $1,289m at 30 June, up from $1,208m three months earlier, with no debt. The $81m cash build came after capital expenditure and an $87m tax instalment payment relating to FY26, while a further $20m in sales completed in late June was received after quarter-end.

In the production update released on Monday, it said it had partial downside protection through put options, while all-in sustaining costs are still being finalised and will be reported in the full quarterly activities report later in July.

Since surging to record highs at the beginning of the year, Greatland Gold shares have traded within a range as gold prices remain choppy and the company pushes on with the development of its assets.

Avon Technologies has secured a $10.8m order for respirators from an existing European NATO nation, placed through the NATO Support & Procurement Agency framework contract.

The order, won by the group’s Avon Protection unit, covers FM50 twin-filter air purifying respirators, FM61EU filters and accessories, and will support the ongoing modernisation of protective equipment for the country’s military personnel.

The FM50 is a full-face respirator built to NATO military requirements, offering lower breathing resistance and improved comfort to keep wearers in the field for longer, with continuous respiratory protection in hazardous environments.

Avon said the order further underpins expectations for its 2027 financial year.

Jos Sclater, Chief Executive Officer, said: “This new order highlights Avon Protection’s long-standing position as a trusted supplier to NATO and allied forces, delivering equipment designed to support both protection and operational effectiveness.

“Avon Protection supplies respiratory systems to 16 NATO nations under the NSPA framework, reflecting the increasing focus on modernising CBRN capability across the alliance. The NSPA framework provides a strong platform for repeatable demand as customers upgrade and standardise their equipment.”

easyJet has reached an agreement in principle with Castlelake on the key financial terms of a takeover, saying it would be minded to recommend the US investment firm’s latest proposal of £6.90 per share in cash to shareholders.

The fifth offer from Castlelake was submitted on 4 July and covers the entire issued share capital not already held by the firm, with a partial unlisted share alternative also available.

Castlelake currently owns 2.14% of easyJet.

The eayjet board said the financial terms are at a level it would recommend if a firm offer were announced, subject to agreement on all other terms and conditions.

“easyJet appears to be on final approach for a move into private ownership after its board indicated it would be minded to recommend a sweetened £5.5 billion takeover offer from US investment firm Castlelake, marking a significant shift after previously dismissing earlier approaches as “highly opportunistic”,” said Susannah Streeter, Chief Investment Strategist, Wealth Club.

Castlelake has said it would commit to using best endeavours to secure the regulatory clearances needed to complete a deal, and has stressed its respect for easyJet and its people, along with its intention to back the airline’s transformation into a stronger, more resilient European carrier.

It also supports easyJet’s fleet modernisation programme, which it views as central to the company’s long-term competitiveness.

There are strict rules for airline operators in Europe that Castlelake would need to satisfy.

The 690p offer is at a significant premium to the level easyJet shares were trading at before rumours of a takeover first broke. But it is well below where easyjet shares have traded in recent years.