Three UK companies have received offers to us, so cities that hold the acquisition heat
British chip designer Alphawave has agreed to a $2.4 billion acquisition by US rival Qualcomm.Photo: Mike Blake/Reuter American investors are poised to snap the three listed on the London Stock Exchange for a total value of over £5 billion. The flagging stock prices are because UK companies are vulnerable to acquisitions.
Alphawave, one of the few semiconductor companies listed in the UK, received an offer worth 183 penns from its US rival Qualcomm, and on Monday the UK company’s board of directors recommended its shareholders to trade after months of consultation.
The transaction values a company that designs and licenses high-speed connectivity technologies that can be applied to DataCentres and AI applications at $2.4 billion (£1.8 billion).
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The acquisition is one of three deals that emerged Monday as UK quantum computing startup Oxford Ionics agreed to a $1.1 billion acquisition by US rival Ionq.
Oxford Ionics, spun from Oxford University, was founded in 2019 by physicists Chris Balance and Tom Harty. Both founders will remain at IONQ after the acquisition is completed.
Listed in New York, IONQ has a market value of $9.7 billion, and its stock has been worth more than four times its value over the past year alone.
Meanwhile, shares in precision and test equipment expert Spectris rose up up 69% on Monday after telling investors that they had received an acquisition offer from US private equity company Advent.
The proposals the company said include a provisional dividend proposal of £37.35 per share and 28p per share, valued at £3.7bn. The stock jump has made its value at £3.4 billion.
The Spectlis Committee, headquartered in London and operating in 36 countries, said it would recommend that Advent recommends acquisitions at that level if it makes an official offer. According to city rules, private equity companies will have to announce their offers until 5pm on July 7th or leave.
The three deals are the latest in a UK well-known company that has been handed over to a larger US rival or switched its list to New York in search of better liquidity and higher ratings.
This issue is particularly severe in the UK technology industry. The US market is dominated by high-tech players, Including “7 Grand” groups of companies – In recent years, the UK has been able to boast only a handful of large listed companies in the sector.
Last week, online payments company Wise told investors that it was. Plan to move the main share list to the US. Food delivery app Derviroo agreed to a £2.9 billion acquisition by US rival Doordash in May.