One of April's major small cap engineering stories was conveyor belt maker Fenner's £44.6 million cash and shares acquisition of polymer seals play Wellington. Small cap outfit Fenner underlined the strength of its own recovery by taking out the sealant specialist in a deal valuing Wellington shares at 185p – 123p in cash and 0.456 of a Fenner share.
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Despite being at the forefront of innovation and comprising the UK's largest manufacturing industry — generating around £42 billion of revenue annually — chemical companies (the likes of ICI and Johnson Matthey excluded) hold a relatively low profile with investors.
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Biotech stocks continue to thrive on the junior market. The only problem is that their fancy valuations are often underpinned, not by earnings, but by investor hopes.
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Bid news and fundraisings have continued to dominate activity on Aim, keeping the junior market's renewed optimism going strong. The international flavour of some of the bigger deals has remained, with
New York-based Keryx Biopharameucticals successfully securing $15 million (£8.3 million) among a bounteous crop.
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During the early stages of a bull market companies that are squeezed higher tend to be smaller speculative concerns with illiquid stock. This has certainly happened on Aim recently.
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While companies in the blue chip FTSE 100 index have recovered ground over the past month, buoyed by a seemingly good start to the war with Iraq, smaller companies have not enjoyed such gains.
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London's Small Cap index has now dropped to 1728.95 against 2486.35 a year ago – as a barometer the FTSE 100 has fallen from 5153.9 to 3616.1 over the same period. However, many analysts suggest the smaller shares market has been oversold, with many recruitment ventures, in particular, looking badly undervalued. Generally speaking, these outfits are regarded as bellwethers for the first stirrings of economic recovery.
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The Small Cap and Fledgling indices have fallen 7 per cent and 6 per cent respectively over the past month, but some old economy sectors, particularly construction and support services, provided a welcome safe haven for tech-averse investors.
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A recent spurt of positive activity amongst the Small Caps, particularly in the 'old economy sector', illustrated that opportunities for investors still abound outside the spotlight of the FTSE 350.
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