Yesterday Costain upped its offer for the consultancy and services firm from 105.8p per share to 135p, raising the value of the bid from £119m to £152m. After talking to its advisers, the board of Mouchel once again said no deal.
Costain responded by saying that it was surprised by Mouchel's response, considering that the offer represented a premium of 138.9% over Mouchel’s closing share price of 56.5p immediately prior to it entering the current offer period on 6 December 2010.
Costain said: “This decision by the board of Mouchel denies its shareholders the opportunity to have a major stake in a well capitalised, financially efficient, enlarged business, with a clear strategy for future profitable growth.”
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