London’s FTSE 250 was up 0.9% at 23,035.53 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Syncona surged to the top of the index after saying it had sold its portfolio company Gyroscope Therapeutics Holdings to Novartis for up to $1.5bn (£1.1bn) on a cash and debt free basis. The company said it would receive an upfront payment of $800m, with another $700m potentially on offer via milestone payments related to clinical development, regulatory approvals and reimbursement.
On closing, the deal is expected to result in cash proceeds of £334m for Syncona, representing a £180m uplift to previous valuation and internal rate of return of 55%.
Doorstep lender Provident Financial was also a high riser, closely followed by Ritazza and Upper Crust owner SSP.
On the downside, gold miner Hochschild was the worst performer on the index.
FTSE 250 – Risers
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 214.00p 7.00%
Provident Financial (PFG) 347.60p 5.85%
SSP Group (SSPG) 239.50p 4.18%
Savills (SVS) 1,430.00p 4.00%
Darktrace (DARK) 424.40p 3.87%
Indivior (INDV) 260.60p 3.58%
Volution Group (FAN) 533.00p 3.50%
Future (FUTR) 3,694.00p 3.36%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,809.00p 3.19%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 393.00p 3.12%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 127.60p -2.74%
Currys (CURY) 116.80p -1.35%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 358.40p -1.16%
BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 176.40p -1.12%
Playtech (PTEC) 723.00p -1.09%
Elementis (ELM) 126.70p -1.02%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 302.50p -0.98%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 371.80p -0.96%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 226.90p -0.92%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 566.00p -0.88%
