UK engineer Senior's shares surge as takeover offers pour in

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Senior's SNR.L shares leapt more than 20% on Friday after the British engineering company said it had received five takeover proposals in recent months, with private equity firm Advent confirming it was among the suitors.

Senior said the interest began with a January bid it rejected as "fundamentally undervaluing" the company. The same unidentified bidder later returned with two higher offers, the second of which it also rejected.

The company, which supplies parts to aircraft makers Boeing BA.N and Airbus AIR.PA, then received two higher all-cash bids from other suitors in February, which it is now reviewing.

U.S.-based private equity firm Advent International confirmed it was among the interested parties and has until March 27 to decide whether to make a firm offer under UK takeover rules.

Advent and Senior did not disclose the value of the potential bids.

Shares in Senior jumped as much as 22.5% to a more than seven-year high of 315.5 pence after Advent's statement, the biggest rise across all London stocks. That valued Senior at more than 1.32 billion pounds ($1.75 billion).

Senior said it made Friday's announcement without the consent of the potential bidders.

"Clearly there is value at Senior," Panmure Liberum analyst Alexandro da Silva O’Hanlon said, adding that its move to go public suggested it was seeking greater leverage in talks.

Aerospace-related dealmaking has picked up as planemakers bring key suppliers in-house to steady their supply chains.

Boeing BA.N closed its $4.7 billion takeover of U.S.-based Spirit AeroSystems in December 2025, re-acquiring the bulk of the world's largest independent wing and fuselage maker.

Airbus AIR.PA took over selected Spirit operations linked to its own programmes.

Senior raised its annual profit outlook for the second time in two months in January as it benefitted from stronger-than-expected performance in its aerospace business.

The company has postponed the start of its 40 million pound ($54 million) share buyback after the bids, it said on Friday.

It will report 2025 results on March 2.

($1 = 0.7426 pounds)