Serco shares fall on reported collapse of bid talks

Shares in Serco fell on Friday after a report that American Industrial Partners (AIP) contacted the UK government contractor about a potential bid for the company.

The two sides are said to have engaged with one another, although it was unclear whether AIP had lodged a firm takeover proposal during their discussions, Sky News reported citing unnamed sources.

A person close to Serco insisted on Friday that there were no longer any active talks between them.

Serco, which has a market capitalisation of about £1.9bn, has a large number of UK government contracts, including processing asylum-seekers at two immigration centres in West Sussex and Bedfordshire.

Last year, it was awarded a contract to maintain and operate the UK's air defence radars for the next five years.

A Serco spokesman declined to comment, while AIP could not be reached for comment, Sky reported.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com