Storage group Lok’nStore is the latest company to be targeted by foreign bids in the acquisition frenzy gripping the city.
The board of the Hampshire company, which has 43 storage facilities, has backed a bid from European giant Shurgard of 1,110 pence a share, valuing it at £378m.
The shares rose 16.4 per cent, or 157 pence, to 1,115 pence.
The proposal, which needs shareholder approval, would make it the latest company to leave the London stock market.
This year bidders have pounced on packer DS Smith, haulier Wincanton, builder Bellway and Virgin Money.
Takeover target: The board of Lok’nStore, which has 43 closed stores, has backed a bid from European giant Shurgard of 1,110p per share, valuing it at £378m.
City investment bank Peel Hunt has called it a “feeding frenzy” and warned the FTSE Small Cap index will disappear within four years if the pace of takeovers continues.
The attack on Lok’nStore came a day after Centaur Media, which publishes The Lawyer, said it had received an “expression of interest” from a Dutch private equity firm.
Shurgard has 276 stores and serves 190,000 customers a year in seven countries.
A deal would see Shurgard enter southeast England for the first time, where Lok’nStore has 32 stores.