SMALL CAP MOVERS: Immunodiagnostic; Hurricane Energy

An agreed takeover offer worth £110million from PerkinElmer made Immunodiagnostic Systems one of the week’s top risers.

The shares rose 47 per cent to 375p, a shade below the 382p a share offer price.

The diagnostics group said that the takeover will allow it to speed up its growth plans while cooperating more closely with existing partner Euroimmun, which is also part of the PerkinElmer group.

In other acquisition news, the market gave the thumbs-up to the conditional acquisition of Saracen Fund Managers by AssetCo.

Immunodiagnostic was one of the week’s top risers after a £110m takeover by PerkinElmer

Shares in AssetCo rose 37 per cent to 1,950p after agreeing to pay £2.75m for Saracens, of which £664,774 will be paid in cash with the remainder settled in shares.

‘Saracen is a small fund management firm with great potential. Its business model, people and product offering are its key assets and are an ideal fit for AssetCo,’ said Peter McKellar, the deputy chairman and chief executive officer of AssetCo.

ESG – environmental, social and governance – issues are becoming more important to investors, which might explain why Itaconix shares reacted positively to the news that the company had received the London Stock Exchange’s Green Economy Mark in recognition for its contributions to the global green economy.

Itaconix generated 96 per cent of its 2020 revenues from the sale of plant-based products, the company noted.

The bio-based speciality polymers company is perhaps best known for having its polymers included in homecare detergents and cleaners. The share rose 26 per cent this week.

It is not often the case that shares rise after the company taps the market but Galantas Gold managed that rare feat this week after completing its share placing at C$0.30 per unit, raising just shy of C$8million.

Eric Sprott, the well-known Canadian resources investor, acquired 6.3million units for C$1.9million, through his vehicle 2176423 Ontario Ltd, giving him an 8.6 per cent stake in Galantas.

With the financing done and dusted, Roland Phelps retired as chief executive to be replaced by Mario Stifano, an experienced mining executive who has raised significant capital for a number of mining and resource companies in exploration, development and production such as Lake Shore Gold Corp.

Galantas Gold, an Anglo-Canadian company, owns and operates the producing gold mine near Omagh, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland. The shares rose 42 per cent this week to 40.5p.

Staffline Group, the recruitment and training group, did not get off so lightly after it tapped the market, issuing shares at 50p a pop.

The stock ended the week 16.5 per cent lower at 58.7p after it raised £44m from the share issue. The company is seeking to raise up to a further £4.4m through an open offer of shares at the same price.

The company intends to use the net proceeds of the proposed placing and subscription to reduce group indebtedness and to provide working capital for growth.

The group’s average net debt in the first quarter of 2021 reduced by £14.5million to £54.9million (including deferred VAT) as a result of cost-savings initiatives.

The group said it has benefited from a £46.5million Covid VAT deferral that will be repaid in eight equal monthly instalments starting next month.

Lastly, in last week’s column, we said no weekly small-cap movers feature this year seems complete without an entry on Hurricane Energy and the trend has continued, with the shares up 93 per cent on the week at 1.275p after activist investor Crystal Amber Fund called for an extraordinary general meeting to oust five non-executive directors and put its own two appointees in place.

The fund, which owns 14.7 per cent of the company, said it had provided it with funds totalling £25million in three tranches since 2013 but had since lost faith in the board.

Tune in next week (probably) for the latest developments in this saga.