Armour Group faces takeover bid from investor

Armour said Hawk Investment Holdings, involving Bob Morton and his sons Edward, Charles, Robert and Andrew, had increased their interests in the company and now held 45,186,582 shares in aggregate, representing about 46.6% of its voting rights.

Hawk confirmed that as a result of acquiring more than 30% of Armour's shares, it will be making a mandatory offer to all Armour's other shareholders to acquire their shares at 4.75p per share in cash, as required by financial regulators.

Armour said: "This announcement is not an announcement of a firm intention to make an offer under Rule 2.7 of the City Code but a mandatory offer will follow and the board of Armour recommends that shareholders take no action. A further announcement will be made in due course."

Shares in Armour were unchanged at 4.62p at 16:26 in London.