John Laing agrees to £2bn takeover by KKR

British infrastructure group John Laing has agreed to a £2bn takeover by US buyout firm KKR.

The two firms on Wednesday said KKR would pay 403p a share for Laing - a hefty premium to Tuesday’s closing price of 360p - and the UK company’s board planned to recommend the deal to shareholders.

John Laing invests in transport, social and environmental public-private partnership programmes worldwide. It has also invested in the rollout of high-speed fibres in Germany with two small takeovers of regional telecoms businesses.

Shares in the former builder jumped as much as 18.5% to 376.4p two weeks ago, their highest level since January 2020, on news the two sides were in talks.

In March, the company reported an annual pre-tax loss of £65m, compared with a loss of £95m a year earlier, while net asset value per share slipped to 310p from 337p.

Last month, John Laing and Macquarie Capital said they would invest £200m in retirement homes developed by McCarthy Stone to help address the undersupply of elderly accommodation in Britain.