Cenkos Securities (AIM: CNKS) was confirmed as the suitor that approached Arden Partners (AIM: ARDN) about a possible offer for the company. Cenkos Securites had been attempting to pull off an acquisition of Close Brothers, which would have been classified as a reverse takeover. However, the deal never materialised as Close Brother's rebuffed the advances of its smaller rival.
Now Cenkos Securities is in the thick of it again, being named as a potential suitor for Arden Partners. Arden Partners confirmed that it was in discussions with Cenkos, and that any deal was likely to be an all share transaction, and would not offer much of a premium to its current share price.
Arden Partners is currently valued at approximately £30.75 million while Cenkos is valued at £109 million.
Merger and Acquisition activity in the broking and advisory sector has been rife in recent months as many smaller players struggle to cope with the rapid contraction in the IPO market for small and midsized companies.