GlobalData plc is to launch a £60m tender offer following the collapse of takeover talks with two private equity firms.
Last month the UK data giant terminated potential takeover talks with private equity firm ICG, while in May it saw a deal with KKR collapse.
Revealing plans to launch a tender offer of up to £60m, it cited the pausing of a £50m share buyback programme due to the takeover approaches.
“At the time it was suspended, approximately £39m of shares had been purchased,” it stated. “The group will not be recommencing this share buyback programme [and] instead look to return surplus capital to shareholders by way of a tender offer of shares.”
GlobalData Plc, led by Mike Danson (pictured), is a data, insights, and analytics platform serving the world’s largest industries.
It also confirmed a planned move to the main market of the London Stock Exchange, expected to complete in Q4 2025, and details of two recent acquisitions: Ai Palette, an AI-powered platform for predictive consumer insights and product innovation; and Stylus, which offers insights on consumer trends.
It also reported group revenue of £157m for the first half of the year, representing growth of approximately 12% year-on-year.
GlobalData is now focused on its three-year growth transformation plan, which is targeting annualised revenues of £500m by the end of 2026. In January it completed four acquisitions in a week after securing a £340m funding facility late last year.
The London-headquartered firm split into three divisions last June as it completed a £434m private equity deal which saw it hand over a minority 40% stake in its healthcare business to Inflexion.
“GlobalData has shown resilience through a period of transition towards solutions-based selling and an acute focus on strategic account management as we get even closer to our customers,” said Danson in this morning’s notice to the LSE.
“With a tough and uncertain macro- environment we continue to make significant progress in our Growth Transformation Plan.
“Following a slow start in Q1 2025, momentum is building as can be seen by the improved Contracted Forward Revenue which provides improved visibility for H2 2025 and active strategic account management is starting to drive a pipeline of stronger expanding relationships.
“I am pleased that we have maintained momentum in our acquisition strategy, adding two businesses so far in 2025 that enhance our consumer innovation intelligence solutions, and I wish to extend a warm welcome to the new members of our team.
“The offer proposals we received in April clearly caused some distraction in the first half, but we, as a board, believe that the medium and long-term prospects of the Group offer an excellent opportunity of strong shareholder returns.
“As we look forward to joining the main market in Q4 2025, we are also delighted to be able to announce the launch of a tender offer for our shares, again highlighting our focus on utilising both our cashflows and a balance sheet to drive total shareholder returns.”