Tomkins agrees £2.9bn takeover

A British company which started life in 1925 as a maker of buckles and fasteners is to fall into the hands of overseas owners after a £2.9bn takeover deal was announced today.

Tomkins, an engineering and manufacturing group which employs more than 25,000 staff and operates in 23 countries, is to be acquired by US private equity firm Onex Corporation and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The recommended offer comes a week after Tomkins said it had received an approach from the consortium worth 325p-per-share.

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Tomkins was previously known as the "guns to buns" conglomerate after its ownership of businesses including gun maker Smith & Wesson and food group Rank Hovis McDougall.

It is the latest British firm to attract North American takeover interest after recent deals for Cadbury and power supplier Chloride.

Tomkins, whose range of products includes hosing and tubing as well as power transmission systems, employs 1,500 staff in the UK where it has six plants, including in Dumfries.

The group shed thousands of staff after suffering badly amid the recession and a slump in car and housing markets, with its significant US operations taking the brunt.

Its fortunes have since been revived by car scrappage schemes across the US and Europe, and Tomkins said last week that sales soared around 23 per cent in the first six months of 2010.

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