25 May 2012

Dennis chugs away from Optare

29/12/2011 Miles Nolan

The UK's leading bus supplier Alexander Dennis, has pulled out of a potential bid for its troubled rival Optare (OPE).

Falkirk based Dennis employs 2,100 people and is well known for its coaches as well as single and double decker buses, so a fit with Optare would make good sense. But the AIM listed minnow has been struggling against a backlog of large orders - a position which has forced it to seek help from Indian giant Ashok Leyland.

News of the approach came out only yesterday but Ashok has advised Cenkos, adviser to Optare, that is is unwilling to sell its 26 per cent stake to 'anyone at any price.' Dennis first signalled its intentions to Optare on 23 December but has been ubable to obtain any of the information it requested.

Optare has been promised a £12 million line of credit from Ashok, which will allow it to finance delivery of its record £59 million order book. The interest from Dennis comes as little surprise, nor does the response from Ashok which is itself keen to take advantage of the operational capacity Optare brings. The price spiked jumped 50 per cent to 0.9p yesterday, but is back to 0.55p this morning.

Tags: AIM minnow, Alexander Dennis, Ashok Leyland, Penny share

Sector: Industrial Engineering

Companies: Optare

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