Harvey Nash agrees to £98.7m bid from shareholder

Aim-listed recruiter Harvey Nash has agreed to be bought by funds controlled by shareholder DBAY Advisors for £130p per share in cash and one interim dividend of up to 1.75p per share.

The company's independent directors intend to unanimously recommend the offer, which values the group at around £98.7m and will now need to be approved by 75% of shareholders.

DBAY already owns around 26.1% of Harvey Nash after taking a significant stake in the group last February. It said Harvey Nash would be better suited to a private company environment as this would eliminate the regulatory burden and constraints and costs of maintaining a public listing.

Harvey Nash chairman Julie Baddeley said: "Harvey Nash's acquisition strategy and successful transformation programme has resulted in significant shareholder value being created over the past two years.

"The independent Harvey Nash directors have considered carefully the offer from DBAY, which was the result of a period of negotiation. Whilst the independent Harvey Nash directors believe Harvey Nash would have a strong future as an independent listed company, they consider that the offer, which is wholly in cash, represents attractive value and is in the best interests of Harvey Nash shareholders, staff and clients.

"In addition, DBAY offers stability to all Harvey Nash's stakeholders and has stated it intends to support Harvey Nash's employees and invest in the business as it moves to the next stage of its development."

David Morrison, investment director of DBAY, said: "We know the Harvey Nash business well having been significant investors since February 2017 and are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with the Harvey Nash management team and employees to further strengthen its leading position in the specialist technology recruitment and outsourcing markets."

At 1255 BST, the shares were up 17% to 130.06p.