DarkTrace, Ted Baker Surge on Bid Interest

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- Darktrace (LON:DARK) and struggling fashion chain Ted Baker (LON:TED) were the two standout performers in London after early trading on Tuesday, as one accepted a takeover offer and the other prepared to receive one. 

Ted Baker stock surged 17% after the company confirmed it would recommend a takeover bid of 110 pence a share from Authentic Brands Group, the brand management group that now owns Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale, and Reebok.

"As a leading global brand management company, ABG believes it will be a good custodian of the Ted Baker brand and is well positioned to accelerate its growth and enhance its value," the company said in a statement. 

The development comes only a couple of months after the group turned down two higher offers from hedge fund Sycamore Partners. 

Ted Baker's share price has never recovered from the sexual harassment scandal that enveloped its founder and creative heart Ray Kelvin. It's down over 95% from 2016. An attempted turnaround led by London-based Toscafund came to nothing as the pandemic forced the chain to shut most of its stores for weeks at a time. 

Darktrace stock meanwhile surged 20% to its highest in five months after the Financial Times said that U.S.-based private equity group Thoma Bravo is considering a buyout for the cybersecurity company. 

Darktrace stock has tended to trade at a significant discount to its peers due to its past association with Mike Lynch, the former CEO of Autonomy, who has been charged with fraud in his role in the sale of that company to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. Lynch and his wife hold a stake of just under 12%. His company, Invoke, seeded with the proceeds of the Autonomy sale, financed Darktrace in its first years of operations.