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(Sharecast News) - Outsourcing and energy services firm Mitie Group was the standout performer of the day on the FTSE 250 on Tuesday after agreeing to be taken over by rival OCS Group in a £3.1bn deal.
Under the terms of the agreement, OCS - which is owned by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice - will pay up to 221.6p per share. This is comprised of 218.5p in cash and a final dividend of 3.1p per share for the year to the end of March 2026. It represents a premium of around 46.8% to the closing Mitie share price on Monday, and lifted the stock 39% to 209.6p in afternoon trade.
Ocado surged 9% after saying it has agreed to build a large customer fulfilment centre for a fast-growing European national retailer. Under the agreement, Ocado will install its latest technology into a new, automated CFC due to go live in FY28.
Ocado was also bolstered by Worldpanel data that showed its market share rose to 2.2% over the four weeks to 12 July after sales rocketed 14.1% year-on-year.
Construction and infrastructure firm Kier Group rose strongly after saying that full-year profit and revenue were set to be at the top end of market expectations as strong trading momentum in the first half continued through the second half of the year.
Gold miners were in demand as the price of the precious metal rose 1.4% to $4,070.30 an ounce, with Hochschild Mining and Pan African Resources among the best performers.
Among the other risers, Frasers Group edged higher after boosting its stake in takeover target Hugo Boss to more than 30%, while home improvement retailer Wickes rose after reporting like-for-like growth in both its retail and its design and installation units in second quarter.
On the downside, Mony Group was a heavy faller after underwhelming with its first-half results, which showed that revenues and profits were just 1% ahead of last year.
FTSE 250 - Risers
Mitie Group (MTO) 209.60p 38.81%
Rosebank Industries NPV (ROSE) 337.00p 12.37%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 395.00p 11.90%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 191.10p 8.80%
Kier Group (KIE) 233.60p 4.58%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 440.20p 4.49%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 91.80p 3.78%
Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,074.00p 3.47%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 467.00p 3.32%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 366.75p 3.02%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
WPP (WPP) 275.40p -4.54%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 632.50p -3.95%
Mony Group (MONY) 197.40p -3.13%
GB Group (GBG) 219.50p -2.65%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 859.00p -2.28%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 751.00p -2.14%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 374.00p -1.84%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,406.00p -1.54%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 38.00p -1.43%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 877.00p -1.35%
