Weir drops Ludowici bid

Weir has walked away from a £260m takeover battle for the Australian mining equipment maker Ludowici after being repeatedly outbid by a Danish rival, FLSmidth.

On 23 February, the UK maker of equipment for the minerals and power sectors submitted a binding offer to acquire all Ludowici's shares at A$10 a piece. But FLSmidth, the Danish cement and minerals equipment specialist, was allowed by Australian regulators last week to proceed with an A$11 a share offer it made on 24 February.