Spectris PLC (LSE:SXS) has again switched its preference to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) from rival Advent International as the US private equity giants keep coming back with higher offers for the FGTSE 250-listed precision engineer.
The new offer from KKR values shares at 4,175p, comprising £41.47 in cash and an interim dividend of 28 pence.
As this surpasses the latest Advent offer of 4,100p from last Friday that had been recommended by Spectris, its board has withdrawn its recommendation for Advent;'s proposal and unanimously supported the KKR offer.
KKR's new offer represents a 105% premium to the closing price of 2,038p on 6 June, the day before the first public offer from Advent was revealed, later agreed at 3,778p a share.
Later that month, Spectris said it was also in talks with KKR, which came back with a 4,100p offer that led the board to switch sides and reject the Advent deal.
Today, the Spectris directors said they believe that KKR's acquisition terms "are in the best interests of Spectris shareholders as a whole" and accordingly unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of it.
A court meeting and shareholder vote on the KKR offer are currently scheduled for 27 August.