Rosebank Industries abandons pursuit of ECI, shares slump

(Sharecast News) - Rosebank Industries slumped on Wednesday after the investment firm said it was abandoning its pursuit of US wire harness maker Electrical Components International "in light of the recent market volatility". The company announced last month that it was in talks with affiliates of Cerberus about a potential deal to buy ECI.

However, it said late on Tuesday that "despite receiving overwhelming support from both existing shareholders and new investors, in light of the recent market volatility, the company has decided it is not in its shareholders' best interests to proceed with the acquisition at the present time".

Chief executive Simon Peckham said: "We believe that ECI is a very good company with a high-quality management team and that it would have been a highly successful first investment for Rosebank.

"Despite a successful equity fundraising process, it disappointingly became clear that the current volatility in the political and equity markets meant it was not, at this moment, in our investors' best interests to proceed. We would like to thank investors for their continuing strong support."

At 1025 GMT, the shares were down 15% at 630p.