The long awaited bid for International Power by its majority shareholder, France's GDF Suez, has finally emerged.
Talk of an offer had gained ground again recently, and now the company has received a 390p a share cash approach from the French to buy out the 30% or so it does not already own. At that price the company would be valued at more than £19.5bn.
The independent directors said the proposal was subject to certain preconditions and there was no certainty a bid would be made. They also said their announcement had been made without the consent of GDF.
In the market International Power's shares have surged 20.6p to 404p as traders bet GDF would have to offer more to win over the directors. Previously there had been speculation at least 410p a share would be needed to win the day.
