Market Report: Two rivals battling to win the affections of Al Noor

The ball is in Al Noor’s court, with two rivals battling to win the affections of the Abu Dhabi-based hospitals operator. The FTSE 250-listed firm said it had agreed a deal with Mediclinic of South Africa to create a private healthcare business spanning the UAE, South Africa and Switzerland. It will also have exposure to the UK through Spire Healthcare, which is almost 30 per cent owned by Mediclinic’s largest shareholder, Remgro.

Mediclinic, whose market value on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is more than £5bn, compared with Al Noor’s £1.35bn, wants to use Al Noor’s UK listing to tap into London-based institutional investors. The enlarged group would slot straight into the FTSE 100. But the battle is far from over because rival suitor NMC said it had no plans to give up the fight. Al Noor’s shares rose 166.5p, or 17 per cent, to 1,161p, more than twice the price at which it floated just over two years ago. Spire rose 9.1p to 379p.

More disappointing inflation data from China meant that the FTSE 100’s retreat continued and it fell 72.67 points to 6,269.61.

The funds supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown topped the blue-chip index, rising by 47p to 1,330p after new business volumes reached a record high in spite of market volatility.

Intertek was among the winners, 65p richer at 2,577p, as the product-testing firm’s spending spree continued with its $330m acquisition of Illinois-based PSI as it shifts its focus away from the struggling oil industry.

Andrus Ansip, the digital chief at the European Commission, blocked a tie-up between TeliaSonera and Telenor of Denmark last month. On Wednesday, he repeated his hard line on mergers, scuppering hopes of looser EU competition rules. That hurt BT, whose £12.5bn takeover of EE is still at the mercy of regulators. Its shares fell 14.55p to 417.2p. Vodafone dropped 5.8p to 204.15p.

Shares in the Iraqi oil firm Genel fell 7p to 343p as it bid farewell to founder and president Mehmet Sepil. He was fined £1m in 2010 – the biggest penalty ever imposed by regulators – for an insider trading scandal involving Heritage Oil, with which Genel was due to merge.