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FTSE 250 movers: Wood Grp gains on bid rebuff; AJ Bell slides on founder stake sale

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,633.26 0.01% Wood Group said it had rejected a third unsolicited £1.52bn takeover proposal from rival Dubai-based engineering and consulting company Sidara, saying it continued to "significantly undervalue" the group and its prospects.

Sidara upped its latest offer by 3.8% to 220p-a-share on May 21, from 212p a week ago and the 205p initial approach. It has until June 5 to make a firm bid.

All three proposals are higher than Wood's closing share price on May 23 of 180p. The stock was up 3.89% to 187p on Friday.

AJ Bell said on Friday that founder Andy Bell sold 7.5m shares in the investment platform in a placing at 375p each, raising around £28.1m.

Bell will hold just over 77.3m shares, or 18.7%, in the company after completion.

Hargreaves Lansdown fell back after confirming on Thursday that the financial services platform had rejected a 985p per share takeover offer from a consortium comprising of CVC, Nordic Capital and Platinum Ivy, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 185.40p 3.00% Travis Perkins (TPK) 856.00p 2.88% Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 2,224.00p 2.87% Ascential (ASCL) 340.50p 2.71% NCC Group (NCC) 142.20p 2.60% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 405.00p 2.27% North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 4,190.00p 2.20% Britvic (BVIC) 1,005.00p 2.03% SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 63.00p 1.94% Ibstock (IBST) 168.80p 1.93%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

AJ Bell (AJB) 388.00p -3.72% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 409.20p -3.58% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,081.00p -3.48% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,216.00p -2.72% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 132.70p -2.35% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,092.00p -2.06% Mobico Group (MCG) 56.90p -1.90% Hill and Smith (HILS) 2,060.00p -1.67% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 168.80p -1.63% Pennon Group (PNN) 608.00p -1.62%

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Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.

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