Davis gets £426m Danish nod

DAVIS GROUP, owner of hire tools chain HSS, has made an agreed offer of £426m for Danish-owned Sophus Berendsen as part of its plan to expand into textile maintenance services for hotels, healthcare, and leisure industries in Northern Europe.

Davis is part-financing the deal by raising £145.1m through a five-for-12 rights issue at 250p a share. It will be underwritten fully by Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Davis shares added 19p to 469p.

Sophus Berendsen founded Europe's second-largest textile service group Rentokil and was a major shareholder after the British company went public in 1969. It sold its remaining stake in November.

The bid will enable Davis to expand into the European markets of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands.

Today Davis chief executive John Ivey said that the deal would be earnings enhancing before goodwill amortisation, in the first year.