London’s FTSE 250 was up 1% at 22,877.54 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Vectura shares surged after tobacco giant Philip Morris swooped for the UK pharmaceuticals company with a £1.045bn recommended offer. The 150p-a-share offer trumps a 136p offer from private equity group Carlyle in May that valued Vectura, which focuses on inhaled medicines, at £958m.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “There seems to be an element of poacher turned gamekeeper for Philip Morris in this deal as it looks to use its expertise in inhalation for good – making Vectura’s inhaled drug delivery solutions a good fit.
“Vectura shareholders may be pleased this is an all-cash offer as many might have had ESG objections to being left with a position in a manufacturer of harmful cigarettes as opposed to a business working to improve people’s health.”
Chemicals firm Synthomer was a high riser after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Peel Hunt.
Retailer WH Smith, which has outlets at airports and train stations, rallied after the government announced that fully-vaccinated Britons returning home from amber list countries will no longer have to self-isolate.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Vectura Group (VEC) 154.00p 13.57%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,922.00p 4.17%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 440.80p 4.01%
Synthomer (SYNT) 522.00p 3.88%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,685.00p 3.85%
UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 80.90p 3.72%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 897.00p 3.70%
AO World (AO.) 233.00p 3.10%
Hammerson (HMSO) 38.50p 3.00%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 1,242.00p 2.99%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,450.00p -3.95%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 102.65p -2.24%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,354.00p -1.88%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 248.50p -1.78%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 457.40p -1.38%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,505.00p -1.38%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,644.00p -1.34%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 163.00p -1.21%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 332.60p -1.19%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 297.50p -1.16%
