John Menzies has accepted a takeover bid by a Kuwaiti firm for the Scottish air services company.

The £571 million bid had been made by a subsidiary of Agility Public Warehousing around a month ago, but at that time was still conditional.

On Wednesday, John Menzies said that it had reached an agreement on the terms of the deal with the suitor.

The 608p per share deal is 81% ahead of Menzies' share price before an offer by Agility was first announced in early February. It follows two previous lower bids.


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Menzies chief executive Philipp Joeinig said: "The Menzies directors believe that the offer represents a fair and recommendable price for shareholders which recognises Menzies' future prospects."

Agility vice-chairman Tarek Sultan said: "Agility's focus is on growth and shareholder value creation."

Founded as a bookshop in 1833, John Menzies later became a news distributor and a series of acquisitions put it into the airport services sector in the 1980s. It sold its distribution arm in 2018.

It handles cargo, planes and fuel at airports in 37 countries and employs thousands of people.


Financial technology business sold for second time in year

Edinburgh-based financial technology business Nucleus has been sold for the second time in a year amid booming interest in the investment platform market that it focuses on.

Nucleus has been sold to a US investment giant just seven months after it was acquired for £145m by a rival backed by the Epiris private equity business.


Energy giant SSE lifts profit forecasts

Perth-based SSE has lifted its profits forecast for the second time in two months against the backdrop of soaring energy prices.

The energy giant cited weather conditions as it reported the shortfall in output from its renewable sources had decreased from 19 per cent below plan for the nine months to December 31 to around 12% below plan at March 22.


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