Laing higher on hopes of counter-bid

John Laing, the former building company turned project manager, agreed yesterday to an £887m takeover by the private equity arm of Henderson.

The fund management group is paying 355p a share for the owner of Chiltern Railways and 49 private finance initiatives (PFIs).

However, Laing shares jumped 23.75p to 364p on hopes that a counter-bidder may step forward.

The investment bank Macquarie, which has worked in partnership with Laing in Australia, was rumoured to be putting together an offer of 380p a share that may be tabled before the weekend. The Spanish construction group, Ferrovial, and the infrastructure funds of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and 3i, were all also tipped as potential buyers.

The Henderson deal has been structured in a way that should not discourage interest from elsewhere. Laing is liable to pay Henderson a break fee of only 1 per cent of the agreed price should it fail to complete.

Laing's management, led by chief executive Adrian Ewer and chairman Bill Forrester, have committed their shares to Henderson. But only two major institutional shareholders had so far signed irrevocable undertakings for stakes: Legal & General and Schroders, which account for 23.7 per cent of the company.

Mr Forrester said yesterday: "While the directors have given irrevocables, we've taken care in constructing the deal in that we are not precluded from reacting positively to any other approaches."

While there are understood to be no other current expressions of interest, there have been in the past.

Henderson's offer represents a 28.9 per cent premium to Laing's share price on 13 September, a day before the bid was made.

The agreed offer is to be set out before Laing's shareholders next month for approval, with completion slated for the end of November.

Last month, Laing revealed that profits before tax fell 11 per cent to £12.3m in the first six months of this year, after a line closure on Chiltern Railways, which operates services between London and Birmingham. Construction of a Tesco store caused a nearby tunnel to collapse on to the tracks. Laing is seeking compensation from Tesco, which has admitted liability.