Shares in UK car parts supplier TI Fluid Systems PLC jumped 13% on Monday morning after it confirmed takeover offers had been made by private equity-backed sector peer ABC Technologies.
ABC, which is based in Canada and owned by Apollo, put out a statement to say that it made an initial proposal in August at 165p per share, which was rejected, followed by another at 176p a share at the start of this month.
The TI Fluid shares stood at around 131p at the time, but crept higher on Friday.
ABC says its offer is a 41% premium to the average share price over the month leading up to its first offer, though it's on a par with the TI price in February of this year and well below the share price before 2022.
"Although the possible offer was also rejected by the board of TI Fluid Systems, ABC Technologies remains interested in a possible transaction and is therefore considering its position," the Toronto-based suitor said.
TI Fluid, which manufactures brake systems and other parts for petrol-powered, hybrid and electric vehicles, put out its own statement on Monday noting that the second proposal represented a premium of 20.7% to the closing share price of on Friday, "before press speculation about a potential offer for the company".
It rejected the second bid too, it said, adding that its board "considered the proposal in detail with its advisers and unanimously concluded that it significantly undervalued TI Fluid systems and its prospects", with directors confident in the company's strategy and prospects.
Shares in TI traded above 315p in 2021 but the shares struggled the following year as the company faced various headwinds amid the fluctuations of the automotive industry. A falling to below 100p early last year was followed by a surge to almost 170p this March.
** Update: Adds share price **