THG shares surge on takeover move amid spate of US private equity offers for UK firms

Weak sterling makes FTSE 250 firms ‘ripe for takeovers’ with John Wood Group and Network International also approached

• Business live: THG receives buyout proposal from US private equity

The share price of online retail tech company THG has surged after it received a takeover approach from US investor Apollo, amid a spate of attempted private equity takeovers of mid-sized British companies.

THG’s share price jumped by 34% on Monday morning to 88p, having reached 97p in earlier trading after it revealed the approach in a statement to the stock market. It was valued at £860m on Friday before the offer was revealed.