FTSE 250 movers: IWG slumps but John Laing rallies on takeover

London's FTSE 250 was flat at 20,629.05 in afternoon trade on Monday.

John Laing Infrastructure was the top gainer after agreeing to a takeover by a consortium of funds for £1.4bn.

The all-cash offer values JLIF, one of Britain’s biggest listed investors in public infrastructure projects, at 142.5 pence, a premium of about 2% to the share price at the close of trade on Friday. The bidding consortium is also offering a 3.57p dividend.

Morgan Advanced Materials was boosted as Berenberg upgraded its stance on the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and upped the price target to 420p from 330p, saying the first-half results showed significant progress.

The bank noted that when it initiated coverage at 'hold' in September 2017, it had some concerns about organic growth and free cash flow generation. However, it said that since then, management has more than delivered on each of these metrics, a highlight being the 7.8% organic growth delivered in the first half of 2018.

In addition, the shares are up 17% since September, which Berenberg said begs the question whether it and potential new investors have missed the boat.

"We think not and believe this is just the start to further strong delivery," it said, as it increased its estimates by around 10%.

Synthomer was higher as the manufacturer of speciality polymers reported a 6.4% increase in underlying profit for the first half of the year, with management "cautiously confident" for the full year.

On the downside, Spire Healthcare tumbled as it warned that 2018 earnings will be "materially" lower than the previous year amid weakness in the NHS business and increased investment.

The company highlighted weakness in the NHS business where it sees new signs of further triaging and rationing in the second half, especially in orthopaedics as clinical commissioning groups tighten their approach towards managing waiting lists.

IWG slumped after saying it has called off the months-long talks with three suitors, Starwood, Terra Firma and TDR, as the serviced office company's directors believe none of them "capable" of buying the business for a price they could recommend to shareholders. IWG also posted a 7.1% rise in in interim group revenue to £1.2bn, but a 31% drop in operating profit to £60.0m.

IG Group was hit by a downgrade to 'sell' at Shore Capital, while William Hill was down despite upgrades from Barclays and Peel Hunt.

FTSE 250 - Risers

John Laing Infrastructure Fund Ltd (JLIF) 144.90p 3.50%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 363.00p 3.30%
Synthomer (SYNT) 537.00p 3.27%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 38.70p 3.26%
Ascential (ASCL) 416.00p 3.07%
Drax Group (DRX) 361.00p 2.91%
FirstGroup (FGP) 92.62p 2.86%
BCA Marketplace (BCA) 236.50p 2.83%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,674.50p 2.70%
AA (AA.) 112.04p 2.60%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 192.40p -22.17%
IWG (IWG) 236.15p -21.28%
Essentra (ESNT) 481.00p -5.13%
Softcat (SCT) 804.80p -3.85%
Capita (CPI) 128.20p -3.54%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 892.00p -2.94%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,774.00p -2.85%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 500.00p -2.76%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,485.00p -2.36%
William Hill (WMH) 262.30p -2.35%