TT pays pounds 16m for Dale Electric

TT Group, the engineer run by two former Hanson employees, has paid pounds 16m for the troubled power systems manufacturer Dale Electric, writes Robert Cole.

The cash bid has the agreement of Dale's board and values each Dale share at 70p. Shares traded in the market rose 1p yesterday to 61p, but news of the bid came after the market closed. TT is also offering a paper alternative. Investors can take one new TT share for every five Dale shares held.

Dale lost pounds 4.2m in the year to 1 May ( pounds 1.3m profit). However, the loss includes pounds 3.4m of restructuring costs. There is no final dividend, making the full-year payment 1p, against 5.1p last time.

Iain Dale, Dale's chairman, has resigned. He will receive compensation equivalent to three years' salary. Mr Dale took the chairmanship last July on the retirement of Sir Tom MacDonald. In accounts for 1992, a period when Mr Dale was chief executive, he was paid pounds 73,000 - indicating that his pay- off may total pounds 200,000.