Currys shares soar 36% amid takeover interest

Currys shares soared 36% to 64.9p on Monday after it was revealed that Chinese e-commerce company JD.com has joined the potential list of suitors looking to acquire the retailer. 

The bid currently faces competition from US Investment Group Elliott, owner of Waterstones, which recently made a £700m preliminary offer for the tech giant. On Friday (16 February) Currys confirmed to have rejected it due to it “significantly undervaluing” the company. 

According to the Currys announcement, Elliott has until 16 March to announce whether it would like to make another offer or not. 

A shareholder recently told Sky News that the electronics retailer should not engage in takeover discussions with Elliott unless it offered 75p per share “at a minimum” which would evaluate Currys at £800m. 

While Currys forecasts full-year profits to rise ahead of expectations, share prices at the electronics retailer have been on a downward trend for the past three years, with its value falling by more than a third over the last 12 months. 

In January, the retailer reported a 6% drop in Q4 like-for-like sales in the Nordic region and a 4% drop in Greece. Full-year profits are expected to remain above expectations despite UK&I revenues dipping 3% during the 10 weeks ended 6 January. 

Last November, Currys also sold its Greek business and now expects to receive cash proceeds of approximately £156m which will put the company in a net cash position by the end of the financial year.