* Deal values Collins Stewart at $390 mln
* Offer comes at a 90 pct premium to share price
* Cements Canaccord’s ambition of bigger presence in London
* Collins Stewart shares rise 75 pct
* Canaccord stock hits year low then rebounds, down 6.5 pct
(Adds CEO and analyst comment)
By Sarah White and Cameron French
LONDON/TORONTO, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Canaccord Financial
has snapped up British broker and advisory group Collins
Stewart Hawkpoint for just over 253 million pounds
($390 million), cementing the Canadian investment dealer’s
ambitions of expanding in London amid a wave of consolidation in
the troubled sector.
Shares of Collins Stewart shot up 75.3 percent to 88.3 pence
on Thursday, within reach of the 96 pence per share offer, while
Canaccord’s shares fell as much as 14 percent to touch a year
low as investors fretted about the risks associated with the
move.
The cash and stock offer represents a more than 90 percent
premium on Collin’s Stewart’s Wednesday closing price, but
analyst Peter Lenardos of RBC Capital Markets called it a “full
and fair price.”
Continued…
