UK’s Sanne agrees to takeover talks as Cinven raises bid again to $2bn

London-listed Sanne Group said on Friday it had decided to enter into talks with Cinven after the private equity firm made a sweetened offer of $2.01bn to buy the asset management services provider.

The fifth unsolicited offer of 875 pence per share from Cinven comes after Sanne in May rejected a 1.35 billion pounds buyout proposal from the investment group.

The latest offer represents a premium of about 13% to Sanne’s closing price of 772 pence on Thursday.

Consolidation and private equity interest in British firms have risen in recent years. Sanne is one of the latest additions to takeover targets, following firms such as John Laing, Aggreko, Equiniti and Spire.

Jersey-based Sanne provides outsourcing services to clients in dozens of countries and last year recorded a 12% rise in its annual earnings as it won new businesses and made several acquisitions.

It said Cinven has until July 9 by which it needs to either announce an intention to make a firm offer or back out from buying Sanne, adding that it disclosed the offer from Cinven without prior agreement or approval from the fund.

Cinven did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Reuters