Rentokil Initial rose to the top of the FTSE 100 as heavyweight US broker Citi upgraded the pest control specialist following its acquisition of US rival Terminix.
The deal can propel Rentokil into the No. 1 slot in US pest control with an estimated market share of 25%, followed by Rollins with 20%, Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) with c5% and Anticimex with 4-5%, estimates the broker.
Based on state-by-state branch footprint analysis, Citi said it is confident that Rentokil can significantly outperform management’s synergy target and possibly by two times.
The bank has upped its rating to ‘buy’ with a target price of 650p.
Shares rose 3% to 531.2p.