Morse merger is go

Directors and shareholders give thumbs up

The proposed takeover of Morse by 2e2 looks set to go ahead - the companies have agreed final terms.

It emerged on Friday that the two firms were in advanced talks. Morse's board of directors today unanimously approved the offer of 51 pence per share.

This represents a 60.4 per cent premium on Morse's average share price over the last 12 months, or a 31.6 per cent premium on its share price over the preceding month.

The offer has been accepted by 54.1 per cent of Morse shareholders.

2e2 stressed the strategic value of the deal. It said the merged group would have advantages of scale, better visibility and the ability to offer existing customers a wider range of services.

The two companies would have had combined sales of £414m and Ebitda of £40m for the year ended 31 December 2009. The full Stock Exchange statement is here.

In other news Morse issued an interim management statement showing it had £10.5m in the bank as of 31 March 2010. Its infrastructure business had a decent quarter, and trading in Spain and Ireland was in line with expectations. Morse's business application services line was trading slightly ahead of lowered expectations. ®