(Reuters) – London-listed financial services firm JTC Plc said on Friday it was in separate talks with private equity firms Warburg and Permira after rejecting earlier buyout proposals from the two rival suitors.
Shares in JTC jumped as much as 11.3% to a record high of 1,306 pence, taking the company’s market valuation to over 2 billion pounds ($2.71 billion), after Bloomberg News first reported about Warburg’s interest earlier in the day.
JTC becomes the latest London-listed takeover target in the middle of a possible bidding war as private equity firms continue to eye British companies due to their relatively low valuations.
JTC said it had rejected two proposals from New York-based Warburg on September 5 and 11, respectively. It is in talks with Warburg over a third revised proposal.
JTC also said it had rejected three proposals from Permira and is currently in early-stage discussions regarding a fourth revised possible offer.
Jersey-based JTC did not disclose the prices at which the proposals were made.
Permira must announce a firm offer for JTC by September 26 or walk away, while Warburg has until an October 10 deadline, JTC said.
In other private equity-led takeovers, Blackstone is nearing a deal to buy Warehouse REIT while KKR has agreed to buy out Spectris in the biggest UK deal of the year so far.
($1 = 0.7384 pounds)
(Reporting by Prerna Bedi, DhanushVignesh Babu and Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Shinjini Ganguli and Susan Fenton)
