Tikit to ride over to BT

Telecoms giant BT has made an agreed offer to acquire Tikit Group, the information technology services provider to the legal and accountancy profession.

BT is offering 416p in cash per Tikit share, comfortably above the 353.5p closing price of Tikit on the day before the announcement, and valuing the company at around £64.2m.

The Tikit directors recommend acceptance of the offer and have given irrevocable undertakings to accept it in respect of their own shareholdings, which account for around 7% of the existing share capital of Tikit.

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"We firmly believe that this transaction is in the best interests of our shareholders and employees. BT will enable Tikit to continue to grow and better service the needs of its clients," said Mike McGoun, non-executive Chairman of Tikit.

"The offer will enable us to combine Tikit's expertise, portfolio, relationships and deep understanding of the legal sector with BT Retail's scale and breadth of products," said Gavin Patterson, Chief Executive Officer of BT Retail.