The car parts maker TI Fluid Systems has become the latest London-listed firm to succumb to an overseas takeover, in a £1bn deal.
The takeover by Canada’s ABC Technologies includes cutting as many as 2,700 staff globally, 10% of its workforce, with staff levels at its headquarters in Oxford being reduced by a third.
The Oxford office is understood to employ about 50 staff, while TI’s total UK employee numbers are unknown.
ABC said it intended to “maintain the balance of skills and functions of employees” of TI, and the job cuts are expected to primarily target employees in corporate, administration, research and development, and functions supporting “plc-related functions”.
The board of TI said on Friday it had agreed the deal, which will fuel concerns of an exodus of businesses from the London stock market, after a spree of dealmaking which has accelerated in recent days.
Aviva revealed on Wednesday it had tried to buy smaller rival Direct Line for £3.3bn, the cafe bar business Loungers succumbed to a £338m bid from the US private equity company Fortress Investment Group, and the Australian asset manager Macquarie struck a £700m deal to buy the waste management business Renewi.
Shares in Spire Healthcare surged on Friday over speculation that the FTSE 250 company may be the next to sell up, after reports that India’s Narayana Health is in talks to take a controlling stake.
A decision to maintain TI’s main headquarters in the US, at Auburn Hills in Michigan, means the headcount and “associated footprint” of administration functions in Oxford will be reduced.
The cuts, which are subject to consultation after the deal closes, also include cutting 5% to 10% of TI’s manufacturing facilities and offices globally.
TI, founded in 1922 as Harry Bundy & Co in Detroit, Michigan, started making parts for the Ford Model T. It has 98 manufacturing locations in 28 countries.
TI, which had rejected several offers from the Toronto-based ABC over the past few months, said it decided to accept the latest offer of 200p a share because of disruption and uncertainty in the global automotive sector. TI makes car parts including fuel tanks and pipes.
It also said it took the £1.04bn cash deal, which is worth £1.8bn when debt is included, because of the “long-term potential” of the business not being reflected in its stock market valuation of £860m.
TI said it was a 37.2% premium to its share price before the planned takeover was announced in September.
The diminishing number of UK-listed firms has prompted growing concern about the health of the London market.
