Anite accepts American bid

Anite had already risen as much as 27% following last month's bullish fourth-quarter trading update. Now, $5.5 billion American tech giant Keysight Technologies has offered £388 million, or 126p a share, for the UK supplier of test and measurement software to mobile phone and network equipment manufacturers.

It's proved too tempting for Anite chiefs who have bitten off Keysight's hand. Analyst Lorne Daniel at finnCap also thinks it's a "good deal for Anite shareholders". He points out that the company has struggled in recent years as three key customers - Blackberry, Nokia and Motorola - hit trouble and cancelled orders.

Anite's handset business has remained lumpy, too, and has struggled again German and Japanese rivals, says Daniel. And in China, handset and component manufacturers tend to use shared government testing centres rather than their own.

He adds: "Overall, it is sad to see a UK mobile industry leader lost to US rivals; however, with these current headwinds we feel Anite is unlikely to return to the position it enjoyed in 2013, when as a high growth 'darling of the market' the shares traded between 140p and 160p, and we agree with the board's acceptance of the offer."

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True, Keysight would bring much-needed scale to the business, and the offer is a 22% premium to last night's close and 40% to the three-month average. But the 126p offer falls short of Panmure Gordon's target price of 142p. Anite shares have traded largely between 72p and 95p since early 2014, but were as high as 160p a year earlier. They changed hands for 126p as recently as September 2013.

So far, Keysight has received irrevocable undertakings in respect of 15.2% of the shares. That includes two of their largest shareholders - RWC Focus Asset Management with 6.2% and Aberforth Partners with 8%. Aberdeen Asset Managers, which owns 12.8% of the business, and Prudential with 6.2% are yet to declare.

Currently, Anite shares are changing hands for 128p, suggesting that some believe a better offer will come from somewhere. We'll see.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.