UK outsourcer Mitie in talks with Marlowe over potential deal

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(Reuters) -British outsourcer Mitie Group is in talks to buy smaller peer Marlowe, the companies said on Wednesday, sending Marlowe’s shares 13% higher.

Mitie, provider of security, cleaning, engineering and other services to public and private sector clients, is required to make a firm offer for Marlowe or walk away by July 2, according to British takeover rules.

Smaller peer Marlowe, which has a market capitalisation of roughly 290 million pounds ($392.31 million), provides compliance and risk management services, including safety inspections, to businesses across the UK.

Shares in Marlowe were 13.2% higher by 1242 GMT while Mitie’s climbed a little over 1%.

“This deal would align with Mitie’s aim to complement its core UK soft ‘facilities management’ with higher margin ‘facilities transformation’ and project up-sell work,” Jefferies analysts said in a note.

Jefferies analysts said that the deal would add about 9% to Mitie’s core profit.

The potential transaction could join a growing list of deals in the UK with Warehouse REIT agreeing to Blackstone’s bid on Wednesday, Rentokil selling its French workwear business and Johnson Matthey offloading its catalyst technologies unit to Honeywell in recent weeks.

The companies did not disclose the terms of the possible offer.

($1 = 0.7392 pounds)

(Reporting by DhanushVignesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Kirsten Donovanb)