FTSE 100 movers: Schroders surges on takeover; Rentokil hit by Rollins results

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was flat at 10,469.14 in afternoon trade on Thursday. Schroders rocketed to the top of the index after agreeing to be taken over by US investment manager Nuveen in a £9.9bn deal. Nuveen - which is part of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America - will pay 612p per share.

The price comprises a cash consideration of 590p a share and permitted dividends of up to 22p per share. The cash consideration is a 29% premium to the closing share price on Wednesday.

The deal will create one of the world's largest global active asset managers, with nearly $2.5 trillion of assets under management across institutional and wealth channels.

Relx pushed higher as the information group said it expected strong earnings and revenue growth in 2026 after a 9% rise in underlying operating profit last year.

The company - which was recently caught up in a broader selloff of software stocks on worries about AI disruption - said it was embedding extra AI functionality in its products and developing them at a faster pace, while continuing to manage cost growth below revenue growth.

Pearson and LSEG, which were also hit hard by the recent selloff, gained.

Insurer Admiral rose after saying it has agreed to buy Flock, a digital commercial fleet insurance provider, for £80m.

On the downside, Rentokil Initial was the worst performer after US pest control business Rollins tanked on the back of results.

British American Tobacco fell as it said full-year adjusted profit from operations rose 2.3% to £11.3bn, while reported revenue dipped 1%.

British Land and Land Securities were in the red. Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said real estate groups were down "following a sharp decline in a number of US real estate services groups yesterday on the AI-fear trade".

Consumer goods giant Unilever lost ground as it said 2026 sales growth was expected to be at the bottom end of its underlying range of 4% to 6%, reflecting slower market conditions.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Schroders (SDR) 589.00p 28.88% Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 35.92p 3.38% ICG (ICG) 1,734.00p 3.28% Pearson (PSON) 918.40p 2.98% Relx plc (REL) 2,072.00p 2.93% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,804.00p 2.71% Halma (HLMA) 3,766.00p 2.56% Games Workshop Group (GAW) 16,830.00p 2.43% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,556.00p 2.36% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 273.70p 2.36%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 446.80p -5.40% Prudential (PRU) 1,119.00p -3.66% British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,304.00p -2.76% British Land Company (BLND) 406.00p -2.64% Land Securities Group (LAND) 654.50p -2.39% Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,229.00p -2.24% Compass Group (CPG) 2,010.00p -1.76% BP (BP.) 465.45p -1.54% Croda International (CRDA) 3,140.00p -1.51% Unilever (ULVR) 5,242.00p -1.47%