STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Bureau Veritas rises on takeover news
Shares in Bureau Veritas (Paris: FR0006174348 - news) add 2.8 percent in brisk volumes, the top gainers on France's broad SBF120 index, after the French testing and inspection company says it is buying Maxxam Analytics International Corporation, Canada's leading analytical services provider, for about 447 million euros ($611.07 million) as it looks to expand in North America.
"The acquisition comes as a surprise," a Paris-based trader says.
"Maxxam (Other OTC: MAXX - news) is mainly present in North America and the deal should give Bureau Veritas a real footprint in these markets where it was late. The deal is expected to be 3 percent earnings-per-share enhancing in 2014."
After less than an hour of trading, volumes on the shares of Bureau Veritas already represent 73 percent of the stock's daily average volume of the past three months.
($1 = 0.7315 euros)
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