Oilfield services firm Cape PLC (LON:CIU) has agreed a £332mln all cash takeover from French group Altrad.
Shareholders will receive 265p per share, a 46% premium to the price at the close yesterday.
Founded in 1985, Altrad has been growing rapidly by takeovers in recent years and now operates in over 30 countries worldwide with 22,000 employees.
The Montpelier-based group, which turned over €2.3bn with underlying profits of €323mln in its last financial year, said a combination of the two was ‘compelling’.
“It would create a multi-disciplinary industrial services leader in key markets around the world”.
Cape is now focused on oil services but has been dogged for decades by an asbestos legacy, with its provision for potential claims at the end of 2016 standing at £172.5mln.
In June, Cape issued a mixed trading statement saying that results in 2017 would be materially ahead of expectations but that 2018 will be much tougher.
Shares rose 83p to 264p.