Halfords surges on takeover speculation

Halfords shares surged on Thursday after markets blog Betaville reported in one of its 'uncooked alerts’ that the motoring and cycling products retailer was at the centre of takeover speculation.

FTSE All-Share

4,422.26

15:35 23/12/24

n/a

FTSE Small Cap

6,778.30

15:35 23/12/24

n/a

General Retailers

4,647.04

15:34 23/12/24

0.04%

1.75

Halfords Group

132.20p

15:35 23/12/24

-0.90%

-1.20p

Citing people following the situation, Betaville said that over the last few months Halfords had received an approach from a mystery party.

The latest indicative approach was rumoured to have been pitched at around 270p a share but that was rejected by the company. Since then, another suitor was said to have begun to show an interest in buying Halfords.

However, it's not clear whether Halfords is still in live discussions with either bidder, sources said.

At 1535 BST, the shares were up 15% at 210.20p.

A spokesperson for Halfords told Sharecast: "We do not comment on rumour and speculation."