Consort Medical (Hemel Hempstead / UK; www.consortmedical.com) has pulled out of its attempt to buy rival medical plastics manufacturer Carclo (Mitcham / UK; www.carclo.co.uk), saying a deal would not be in its own investors’ interests.

Last month, Consort launched an speculative bid for the company of GBP 1.16 (EUR 1.31) a share, to be satisfied in Consort shares – see Plasteurope.com of 04.07.2018 – which it said would give Carclo shareholders “an attractive upfront premium” of around 43% above the Carclo share price on 28 June, along with what it called “meaningful participation in the value creation over time as benefits of combining Bespak and Carclo Technical Plastics are realised.”

But after further meetings between Consort and Carclo, Consort said a deal “would not deliver the required benefits in a reasonable timeframe.”

Carclo had rejected the initial interest in the firm outright, describing the proposed offer as “opportunistic” and “undervaluing the company.” In June, Carclo reported that annual profit before tax had slumped by more than 13% for the 12 months to the end of March 2018 following what it called contract delays and a weaker operational performance in some of its businesses compared with the previous year.

Turnover rose 5.7% at GBP 146.2m (EUR 166.8m), and underlying operating profit fell 17.5% compared with the previous year to GBP 9.9m. Pre-tax profit came in at GBP 8.2m, down 13.4%. Chris Malley, Carclo’s chief executive, said the firm had delivered a disappointing performance compared to its expectations coming into 2018.