Halma buys Rovers Medical Devices, Intertek acquires Base Met Labs

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 17 points lower on Monday, having closed up 0.69% on Friday at 7,682.50.

Stocks to watch

Health tech company Halma on Monday said it had bought Netherlands-based Rovers Medical Devices for €85m (£73m). Rovers designs and makes sample collection devices used in the prevention and diagnostics of cervical cancer, Halma said in a statement. An extra payment of €6m is payable in cash, based on Rovers' performance in the period to 31 March 2025.

Aviva has made its first foray into the Lloyd’s insurance market with the £242m purchase of underwriting syndicate Probitas. The deal includes the acquisition of Probitas's Lloyd's platform, taking in its corporate member, managing agent, international distribution entities and tenancy rights to Syndicate 1492, Aviva said on Monday.

Intertek announced its acquisition on Monday of Base Metallurgical Laboratories, a provider of metallurgical testing services in North America, for an undisclosed sum. The FTSE 100 firm said the acquisition would strengthen its position in the industry by expanding its geographic footprint and complementing its existing capabilities in geochemistry, mine site laboratories, and trade inspection. With a focus on critical metals like gold and copper, it said Base Met Labs aligned with the increasing demand for minerals testing, particularly in battery and energy metals.

European regulators have validated two marketing authorisation applications for AstraZeneca, as the biopharma giant's datopotamab deruxtecan product comes one step closer to receiving the green light to treat two types of cancer. The validations confirm the completion of the applications and will kickstart the scientific review process by the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

Newspaper round-up

Britain’s sharp regional divide is on track to deepen with London’s economy pulling further ahead despite the government’s levelling up promises, according to a report. Ahead of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s budget on Wednesday, the accountancy firm EY said it was forecasting stronger economic growth in London and the wider south-east of England than for the rest of the country. – Guardian

Retailers are suffering from the longest slump in sales since the pandemic, as shoppers cut back for the fifth successive month. New figures from BDO show that sales across fashion, homewares and lifestyle dipped by 1.3pc in February, as the consultancy firm warned of an “almost unprecedented” downturn. Sales in the fashion sector were hit the hardest, BDO said, as sales dropped 8.2pc compared to last year. – Telegraph

Around four in 10 staff at the Bank of England do not feel free to speak their mind without fear of “negative consequences”, according to a survey of workers. Hesitancy among employees on Threadneedle Street has emerged as officials seek to improve compliance at the Bank, as a survey shows that openness among workers is lower than other public sector bodies. A Whitehall survey of civil servants found that more than three-quarters of staff felt they could talk openly, according to the National Audit Office (NAO), well above the Bank’s 59pc. – Telegraph

The Treasury is planning an institutional offer of NatWest shares to sit alongside the “Tell Sid” style retail sale in spite of the lessons of the botched twin-track privatisation of Royal Mail in 2013. Officials are understood to have asked the advisers on the share sale to plan for a parallel offer to large institutional investors in order to maximise proceeds to the Exchequer. A share placing to institutions could significantly boost the size of the overall offer but risks creating tension between institutional buyers of shares and retail applicants. – The Times

Pfizer is the latest blue-chip American company to be accused of betraying its former employees in Britain by failing to lift their pensions in line with inflation. About 4,800 UK former and existing employees, including scientists who developed the bestselling erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra, in the 1990s, have been disadvantaged as their fixed pensions get eroded by the rising cost of living. – The Times

US close

Stocks on Wall Street closed in the green on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.23% at 39,087.38.

The S&P 500 added 0.8% to 5,137.08, and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 1.14% at 16,274.94 by the end of trading.