US-based private equity firm Veritas Capital said on Tuesday it reached an agreement to acquire Macclesfield-based heat treatment and thermal processing giant Bodycote with an improved offer of £9.40 per share.
The agreed deal exceeds a potential rival offer of £9.15 per share from private equity firm CVC Advisers.
Bodycote shares rose about 4% to around £9.51.
The Veritas Capital offer includes 932.8p in cash and the FY26 interim dividend of 7.2p per Bodycote share.
“The cash consideration implies a valuation for the entire issued, and to be issued, ordinary share capital of Bodycote of approximately £1,640 million on a fully diluted basis, and an enterprise value of approximately £1,840 million,” said Veritas Capital.
“The offer value implies a valuation for the entire issued, and to be issued, ordinary share capital of Bodycote of approximately £1,652 million on a fully diluted basis, and an enterprise value of approximately £1,852 million.”
The Veritas Capital offer value represents a premium of 45.1% to the closing price of Bodycote shares on July 7, 2026, the last business day before Veritas submitted its initial proposal to Bodycote.
Bodycote is a thermal processing services provider serving the aerospace, defence and industrial sectors.
Bodycote’s board has unanimously recommended the Veritas Capital deal.
Bodycote chair Daniel Dayan said: “The Bodycote Board believes that this offer from Veritas reflects the high quality of Bodycote’s business and management, and delivers shareholders excellent value in cash.
“The Bodycote team has worked extremely hard over many years to build a leading position in our industry, including recent success in delivering on the Optimise, Perform and Grow initiatives; accordingly the Board wishes to express its thanks to management and employees on behalf of shareholders.
“It is gratifying to see Veritas’ strong support in this announcement for Bodycote’s strategy in focusing the group on its most attractive markets for the benefit of all stakeholders.
“Veritas is an experienced and knowledgeable owner of industrial businesses with the capability to accelerate the delivery of this strategy. The Board remains highly confident in Bodycote’s prospects and believes that this offer recognises that value today and is therefore recommending it to shareholders.”
James Dimitri, Partner & Co-Head of Flagship Private Equity at Veritas, said: “Bodycote has established itself as a global leader in providing essential technologies for performance metallurgy across a range of mission-critical end markets.
“We admire what Bodycote and its talented employee base have built, and we look forward to leveraging our deep sector experience and track record of partnering with leading companies in the performance industrial supply chain to support Bodycote’s continued development and unlock a new chapter of growth.”
CVC said in a statement: “CVC Advisers Limited notes the firm intention announcement made by Veritas and the company and its terms and conditions.
“CVC is considering its position and a further announcement will be made when appropriate.
“Bodycote shareholders are strongly advised to take no action in response to the Veritas offer in the meantime.”