(Alliance News) – Mitie Group (MTO) on Tuesday said it has accepted a GBP3.1 billion takeover offer from UK peer OCS Group as it reported a “good” start to the financial year. London-based outsourcing and facilities management firm Mitie said the cash bid from OCS Group Topco Ltd values each Mitie share at 221.6 pence. This comprises cash of 218.5p per share and a Mitie final dividend of up to 3.1p for the financial year that ended March 31. If the dividend is paid in full, the deal values Mitie about GBP3.1 billion.
Comment: Just to remind lazy financial journalists, it is not always the case that Johnny Foreigner buys UK listed companies, “destroying” the London Stock Exchange, sometimes it is Johnny English who buys other best of British companies. Indeed, it is still the LSE and the service providers in the City of London who are the main reason that the number of listed companies is shrinking due to cost and red tape. Only the best will either survive or enter the arena.
IQE plc (IQE), the leading global supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products and advanced material solutions, today provides a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2026. Trading in H1 2026 exceeded management expectations with strong demand across all of the Group’s core segments, which is expected to result in first half revenue of at least £64m.
Comment: With even the likes of Apple sneakily raising the price of its Neo by £100 to £699 soon after launch, we are aware that there is a massive shortage in the semiconductor space, as state of affairs that is likely to last for an extended period, and of course benefit the likes of IQE which has seen a transformational re-rate this year.
Harvest Minerals Limited (HMI), the AIM-listed Brazilian fertiliser producer and mineral development company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Scanty Mineração Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Union Star Metals Limited (ASX: USM), in a cash, shares and milestone related transaction. HMI said “This Acquisition marks the next step in Harvest’s expanded critical minerals strategy and provides exposure to multiple high-quality assets. Building on the encouraging REE results at Arapua, we are leveraging our established operating platform and technical expertise in Brazil to build a broader portfolio of REE assets, within a structure that aligns consideration with project success, while maintaining capital discipline.”
Comment: The stock market is currently so high on REE, that even the merest mention of it seems to send investors into a frenzy. Adding to the excitement today for HMI is the way that it is widening its portfolio from the fertiliser area, which even if we were all starving would be something that the stock market would not find sexy.
Gateley (Holdings) Plc (GTLY), the professional services Group, is pleased to announce its audited results for the 12 months ended 30 April 2026. Revenue increased by 8.2% to £194.3m (FY25: £179.5m); up 6.2% on an organic basis. Contribution increased by 11.6% to £67.7m (FY25: £60.7m) at a 34.9% margin (FY25: 33.8%), reflecting increased fee levels, while maintaining good activity levels on relatively flat fee-earner headcount.
Comment: Despite the threat of AI apparently making professional services like dinosaurs at the end of the Jurassic, it may be the case that at least in the interim those providing the services are using AI and being able to pass it off as their own homework and therefore doing even better than before. Just a theory of course.
Quantum Helium Limited (QHE) is pleased to announce further operational progress at its flagship Sagebrush Project in Colorado together with the Board’s decision to commence the application process for a secondary quotation of the Company’s ordinary shares on the OTC Markets in the United States. The proposed secondary quotation reflects the Company’s continued transition towards commercial helium development in the United States and is expected to broaden access to North American investors while complementing Quantum Helium’s existing admission to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
Comment: Of course, we all love the OTCQB, as well as OTC Markets Group. But it would be interesting to get the stats on how much companies like QHE get traded when they have access to the legendary US pool of liquidity that we here on the London market Gobi Desert of trading, seem to suffer eternally at the small cap end.
Tertiary Minerals plc (TYM) is pleased to announce preliminary results from portable X-Ray Fluorescence (“pXRF”) analysis of drill samples from the first 12 drill holes at Target A1, Mushima North Project in Zambia. The results suggest the presence of a higher-grade copper zone located in the north of the target, within the near surface, lower grade, oxide mineralisation where the Company has an Exploration Target of 15-30 million tonnes at 40-60 g/t silver equivalent. Mushima North is located in the prospective Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold region of Zambia. Target A1 is a polymetallic, silver-copper-zinc prospect located 28km to the east of the historic Kalengwa copper-silver mine which is currently under redevelopment.
Comment: Now, was it Great Western Mining (GWMO) that was going to be the new Guardian Metals (GMET), or Wishbone Gold (WSBN) the new Greatland Resources (GGP), or Tertiary Minerals (TYM) the new Great Western (GWMO), or none of the above? Or was it all of the above?
Zenith Energy Ltd. (ZEN), the listed international energy production and development company, announces that it has completed a private placement of common shares of no par value with institutional investors in Norway. The Financing has attracted the participation of existing institutional investors to raise an aggregate total amount of approximately £2,116,000 (equivalent to approx. NOK 27,500,000 or US$2,848,000), resulting in the issuance of a total of 50,000,000 new common shares.
Comment: ZEN continues to deliver quite a significant land grab as far as the renewable energy space in Italy, something which is going hand in hand with a keen institutional investor backing. Alas, it is up to the Norwegians to step up to the plate, more than us Brits in this respect.
Equipmake (AQSE:EQIP), a market leader in engineering-driven differentiated electrification technologies, products and solutions for the off-highway, on-highway, and aerospace and defence sectors, is pleased to provide a trading update. As previously announced, trading in the second half of the year ended 31 May 2026 showed significant improvement over the first half and the Company expects, subject to audit, to report revenue (excluding grant income) of approximately £8.2 million for FY26 (FY25 £3.5 million, H1 FY26 £1.44 million). In addition, the Company received grant income in FY26 of approximately £1.6 million (FY25 £0.9 million).
Comment: it is clearly wrong that EQIP shares are trading at the low end of the range in terms of the share price. However, if you trade on Aquis this is part of what can be expected, even Elon Musk would struggle there, and Amazon, Google, and Meta might never have taken off. Perhaps with a £9m market cap there are other places to go and be listed? By the way, who else would include a VSA Capital research note to help the cause? Personal use?
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest:
The information, investment views, and recommendations in this Zaks Traders Cafe interview are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this interview should be construed as a promotion or solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or referred to or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engage in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the commentator but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. The commentators may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.
