FTSE 250 movers: Berendsen surges on Elis deal; Electra in ex-div slump

London's FTSE 250 was up 0.1% to 19,723.02 in afternoon trade as millions of voters headed to the polls.

Berendsen surged as it agreed to a sweetened takeover offer from French peer Elis valuing the London-listed commercial laundry company at £2.20bn. Based on the closing price of Elis's shares on 6 June, the offer values each Berendsen share at £12.50, excluding the interim dividend. The offer consists of around 43% in cash, with the remaining 57% being satisfied by the issuance of new Elis shares.

Workspace gained ground as it confirmed it was in talks to buy London's Salisbury House at Finsbury Circus but warned the could be no certainty a deal would take place.

Petrofac gushed higher after securing a long-term framework agreement with Petroleum Development Oman for the provision of engineering, procurement and construction management support services for major oil and gas projects.

On the downside, shares in online used-car marketplace Auto Trader skidded lower on a bigger-than-expected slide in the number of used car dealers advertising on its website and apps. Still, the company more than tripled its dividend as revenue and earnings beat expectations for its full-year performance, with the new year forecast to see greater used car sales volumes and improving margins but a slowing in display advertising growth.

Electra Private Equity, Booker and SIG fell as their stock went ex-dividend.

Risers

Berendsen (BRSN) 1,212.00p 9.49%
Workspace Group (WKP) 914.00p 4.28%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 362.50p 3.87%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 625.50p 2.88%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,167.00p 2.82%
Halfords Group (HFD) 366.20p 2.75%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 94.90p 2.71%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 171.40p 2.57%
Marshalls (MSLH) 406.50p 2.44%
IP Group (IPO) 138.70p 2.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,862.00p -32.66%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 561.50p -5.63%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 163.00p -4.45%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 414.70p -3.94%
Booker Group (BOK) 190.20p -3.40%
Redefine International (RDI) 38.36p -2.66%
Cobham (COB) 130.20p -2.54%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 304.10p -2.53%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 125.30p -2.34%
SIG (SHI) 146.40p -2.20%