Advent International to buy Brammer for £221.5m

Industrial supplies and services distributor Brammer has agreed to be bought by US private equity firm Advent International for 165p in cash per share, or around £221.5m.

The price represents a premium of approximately 69.2% to Brammer’s closing price on Tuesday.

The company said on Wednesday that a strategic review of the business found that a turnaround would take at least three years to implement and would therefore carry significant executive risk and uncertainty.

Brammer said its directors consider the terms of the offer to be “fair and reasonable” and urged its shareholders to accept it.

Chairman Bill Whiteley said: "The board of Brammer has evaluated the offer in the context of the strategic, operational and financial issues highlighted by the Business Review and the nature, extent and timescale of the actions needed to address these issues.

“Accordingly, the board is unanimously recommending the offer which represents an opportunity for Brammer shareholders to realise value for their investment in cash at an attractive premium to the current share price. Advent is a leading global private equity firm, and its proposal provides a high degree of certainty for Brammer's shareholders, employees and customers."

Back in October, Brammer shares tumbled as the group scrapped its dividend and said it did not expect to report a pre-tax profit for 2016.

At 0848 GMT, the shares were up 69% to 164.39p.