FTSE 250 movers: Darktrace surges on Thoma Bravo bid; WH Smith down again

(Sharecast News) - FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,788.28 0.95%

Darktrace shares spiked as the cyber-security firm announced on Friday that US private equity outfit Thoma Bravo was buying it for £4.2bn.

The FTSE 250 cybersecurity specialist said under the terms of the deal, each Darktrace shareholder would receive $7.75 in cash for each share, representing a significant premium over recent trading prices.

It said the acquisition valued its entire issued and to-be-issued ordinary share capital at $5.32bn on a fully-diluted basis, implying an enterprise value of $4.99bn.

Building products supplier Travis Perkins gained again despite revealing a first quarter revenue fall of 3.7% on Thursday as weak demand in the construction sector continued to impact trading.

The company on Thursday said it general merchant business continued to gain market share but, with trading volumes remaining subdued, sales across its merchanting segment were down by 4.4% in the three months to March 31.

Revenues at its Toolstation UK chain fell 0.9% due to weak demand in the renovation, maintenance and improvement market.

Pricing had largely stabilised but remained lower than prior year, primarily due to rollover impact of timber deflation, with this trend expected to continue through first half of year, Travis Perkins said.

WH Smith fell again after saying on Thursday that it was on track to deliver on expectations for the year after a "good" first half.

In the six months to 29 February, headline group profit before tax and non-underlying items ticked up to £46m from £45m in the same period a year earlier, with total group revenue up 8% to £926m.



Market Movers

FTSE 250 - Risers

Darktrace (DARK) 610.00p 17.99% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 348.80p 4.37% NCC Group (NCC) 133.00p 4.07% Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 578.00p 3.77% SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 60.60p 3.77% Travis Perkins (TPK) 745.50p 3.61% Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 53.10p 3.51% Abrdn (ABDN) 145.95p 3.40% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,415.00p 3.33% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 758.40p 3.02%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

WH Smith (SMWH) 1,129.00p -4.48% Moonpig Group (MOON) 151.80p -2.06% PureTech Health (PRTC) 209.50p -1.41% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,195.00p -1.35% Indivior (INDV) 1,383.00p -1.21% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 51.30p -1.16% SSP Group (SSPG) 197.10p -1.10% Jlen Environmental Assets Group Limited NPV (JLEN) 93.60p -0.95% Future (FUTR) 610.00p -0.89% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 559.00p -0.89%