Overview
- Mitie has accepted a recommended cash offer from OCS that values the business at £3.1 billion and pays shareholders up to 221.6p per share, with 218.5p in cash plus a final dividend of up to 3.1p.
- The Mitie board unanimously recommended the deal and said the terms are fair and reasonable, and the companies said the transaction, announced Tuesday, is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2027 subject to shareholder, court and regulatory approvals.
- If approved, the combination will create one of Britain’s largest private‑sector employers by joining Mitie’s roughly 84,000 staff with OCS’s UK workforce to form a group of about 130,000–136,000 people and consolidate many public and private service contracts.
- OCS is owned by US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which highlights the role of private equity in buying UK-listed assets and raises the prospect of close regulatory and competition scrutiny of the merged business.
- The deal is the latest of more than ten £1bn‑plus takeovers this year that analysts say are driven by low UK valuations and a dearth of new listings, and it is renewing calls from market participants and politicians for policy changes to bolster London’s equity market.