CIV

ZTX

ECK

Last week’s announcement of a management buyout at Civica (CIV:AIM) was just one of a string of M&As in the IT software and services sector, and now the downtrodden hardware sector has got in on the act. The shares of silicon chip firm Zetex (ZTX) jumped 89% to 82p late last week after US rival Diodes tabled a recommended £89.1 million all-cash offer for the firm, which equates to 85.45p a share.

Oldham-based Zetex, which had suffered at the hands of the weaker dollar and a margin hit from raw material inventories last year, had begun to make good progress in its chosen strategic areas, such as light-emitting diodes and digital audio chips.

However, there was less good news for shareholders in Eckoh (ECK:AIM). The shares of the automated speech recognition systems expert drooped to a new 12-month low of 5p after rival Telephonetics (TPH:AIM) decided not to proceed with a putative bid first discussed in late January.

Shares says:

HOLD Eckoh, Telephonetics, Zetex.

by: Russ Mould