ABC Technologies agrees to buy TI Fluid Systems, McBride completed refinancing

Stocks to watch

Canadian automotive parts maker ABC Technologies on Friday said it had reached a deal to buy TI Fluid Systems for £1.03bn. ABC, backed by private equity fund Apollo, said it would pay 200p a share in cash after having previous offers rejected. TI Fluid shares closed 5.7% higher at 189.2p on Thursday.

McBride has successfully refinanced its banking facilities, with a new €200m revolving credit facility, it announced on Friday, maturing in four years with an option to extend by up to two years, and including a €75m uncommitted accordion for potential acquisitions or financing needs. The London-listed consumer goods maker said the updated terms included improved conditions, unsecured facilities, normalised covenants, and the removal of restrictions on shareholder distributions, allowing dividend payments and share buy-backs to resume. It said the financing was still sustainability-linked with enhanced ESG performance targets.

AIM-listed investment banking group Peel Hunt swung to a first-half profit on the back of a big jump in revenues as the business capitalised on improving market conditions. Group revenues were up 26% year-on-year at £53.8m in the six months to 30 September, helped by the company executing two IPOs, collecting material M&A fees and generating increased trading revenues. Adjusted pre-tax profit was £4.6m, compared with a loss of £0.5m the year before.

Newspaper round-up

House sales are expected to accelerate over the next four months as buyers seek to benefit from tax breaks that are due to run out in April 2025, according to the online property website Zoopla. The number of home sales increased across the UK this year, pushing up prices by 1.5% in the year to October. Next year prices are expected to rise by 2.5% and transactions will jump by 5%, the website said. – Guardian

UK motorists are paying more than they should for petrol and diesel even as global energy market prices have fallen in recent months, the competition watchdog has warned. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) repeated its call for the new government to take action “as soon as possible” to end the “persistent” overcharging, six months after it found that motorists paid £1.6bn more than they should have last year alone. – Guardian

The UK’s gambling regulator is preparing to settle a £200m claim for damages brought by media baron Richard Desmond over the running of the National Lottery. The Telegraph understands that the Gambling Commission has requested a so-called mediation meeting with Mr Desmond’s business, Northern and Shell, at which it will propose settling the legal claim out of court. The showdown is expected to take place in the coming weeks. – Telegraph

The sale of The Telegraph has been thrown into limbo after the leading bidder was handed an effective open-ended extension to takeover talks. Dovid Efune, the little-known publisher behind The New York Sun, is in exclusive discussions to buy The Telegraph from Abu Dhabi fund RedBird IMI in a deal expected to be worth £550m. – Telegraph

George Osborne has boosted the personal fortune he has made since leaving politics after he was one of a trio of investment bankers that shared in a £30 million pot following record profits at the City firm where he works. Accounts for Robey Warshaw, the influential advisory business the former chancellor joined in 2021, show the Mayfair-based firm enjoyed profits of £70 million in the 12 months to the end of March, up sharply from £31.8 million a year earlier. – The Times

US close

Markets on Wall Street were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

They closed in the red ahead of the break on Wednesday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.31% at 44,722.06.

The S&P 500 lost 0.38% to 5,998.74, and the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.6% at 19,060.48.