Private Equity Firms Acquire Multiple London Listed Companies

Three more companies listed on the London Stock Exchange are set to be taken over, contributing to a trend of firms leaving the capital's stock market. Bodycote, a FTSE 250 industrials group, has agreed to a 1.84 billion pound takeover by the US private equity group Veritas. The deal follows a bidding war involving the European buyout group CVC. Additionally, the telecoms company Gamma Communications recommended a 1.1 billion pound offer from the UK private equity firm Epiris. In a separate deal, the Scottish energy company Capricorn is set to be acquired by its Norwegian rival DNO for 396 million dollars.

Data compiled by Bloomberg indicates that deals removing firms from the London Stock Exchange have totaled almost 110 billion dollars this year. Other recent transactions include the takeover of easyJet by Apollo, the acquisition of Segro by Prologis, and the sale of ITV's broadcasting and streaming business to Comcast.

Reporting on these events differs in framing. A center lean source presents the news as private equity firms snapping up companies. A center left lean source frames the event as a loss for the London Stock Exchange, quoting an investment director who described overseas acquirers as feasting on the UK market like a buffet and warned that the long term implications for the market's breadth and quality could be bleak.