Morning:
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Another day, another set of takeover yarns to inject some excitement into the market.
Aggreko, the temporary power supplier, was first to be mentioned, although the talk was so vague that no one seemed to know who could be sniffing round the company.
In July, Swiss giant ABB, which missed out on Chloride earlier this year, was considered a potential predator.
Even without a name in the frame this time, Aggreko was the best-performing blue-chip, jumping 52p to 1488p. Meanwhile, Canaccord started coverage on its shares with a hold rating.
Elsewhere on the top flight, whispers spread yesterday about a takeover of United Utilities, with private equity or sovereign wealth deemed the most likely suitors. Speculation today was of Middle Eastern interest in the water group, with a bid price of 770p. United Utilities lost 6p to 581½p, however.
Analysts have long argued that the water sector could soon be awash with takeover activity.
And rat-catcher Rentokil jumped 2.1p to 99.4p as dealers said it could also be a bid target. “One to watch,” said one.
Then there was Regal Petroleum, the oil explorer founded by controversial resources investor Frank Timis.
The mutter from the gutter is the company may soon have good news on drilling and it could be in the sights of an oil giant.
“Lots of punters are piling in,” said one trader. “It could go up to 60p from here — a bid is rumoured to be at 75p.” Its shares jumped 2¼p to 35p.
Regal was fined a record £600,000 last year, amid accusations it issued misleading announcements.
Meanwhile, Yell Group and Autonomy, beneficiaries earlier this week of takeover chatter, continued their ascent.
Autonomy rose 48p to 1764p, although that is still a long way short of the 3000p chief executive Mike Lynch is thought to want for the software group. Microsoft, SAP and Oracle have been mooted as potential predators. Directories publisher Yell Group, which City gossips have on the shopping list of either Google or private equity, rose 1p to 18.7p, despite wiser heads pouring scorn on the yarn. “Who on earth would want this company with so much debt?” asked one trader.
Another noted that there are substantial short positions in Yell and Autonomy, so the shares are being boosted by short covering.
All the bid speculation helped the FTSE 100 index extend its winning streak into a sixth day, rising 18.35 points to 5389.39.
On the mid-tier, Lamprell, the rig engineer, was the biggest winner, up 18.4p to 286p, as Citigroup advised snapping up the shares and raised its price target from 300p to 380p.
