Tomkins agrees to £2.9bn takeover deal
UK engineering and manufacturing group Tomkins has agreed to be bought after receiving a bid worth £2.9bn ($4.5bn).
The company is being taken over by a consortium comprising of private equity firm Onex and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Tomkins said that the cash offer - of 325 pence per share - "fairly reflects both the value of the group today and its future potential".
The firm employs more than 25,000 staff and operates in over 23 countries.
Tomkins was founded in 1925 as a manufacturer of buckles and fasteners.
It grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s through a series of takeovers, but then began to streamline itself in the late 1990s by selling a number of businesses.
Tomkins currently makes a number of goods for the industrial, automotive and building products markets.
The offer price of 325p per share is a 41% premium to Tomkins' closing price of 230.3p on 16 July, the day before Tomkins revealed it had received a bid approach.
Seth Mersky, chairman of Pinafore, the consortium buying Tomkins, said: "We recognise that as economies around the world continue to struggle, significant challenges remain for all industrial companies.
"We believe that our offer represents a great reward for Tomkins' shareholders and a chance for us to build value over a long investment horizon."