Instrument maker Delta bids for local rival
1 min read
Instrument maker Delta Controls announced yesterday (8 October) that it was making a bid for local rival Hartest. A statement said Delta was in preliminary discussions with a view to making a 50p per share cash offer for Hartest which valued the company at £ 4.3 million.
In July, Hartest went into an offer period after an announcement by the Essex-based AIM-listed plc Elektron that it, along with an unnamed third party, was considering making an offer of aroung £2 million for Hartest – an offer that failed to come to fruition.
Delta Controls – which has 50-plus years' experience in the design and manufacture of instruments for process monitoring and control applications and has facilities in the UK, Italy, China and USA – is wholly owned by members of its management team.
Delta said it believed there was a strong commercial and strategic fit with Hartest and that the prospects for the businesses and its employees would be significantly enhanced by the deal.
In its own statement, Hartest confirmed that it had received an approach from Delta but did not believe that a recommendation could be made to its shareholders to accept the offer at the proposed price level of 50 pence per share. It said that it intended to enter into discussions to establish whether the terms could be improved.
