Van Elle Holdings - 52.3p cash bid from SCABAG beats SQC Target Price of 42p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 09.04.2026

This morning Van Elle Holdings (LON:VANL) announced that it has received a takeover approach from SCABAG, worth 52.3p a share in cash and valuing the group at £58.8m.

The bid has been accepted by the Van Elle Board, with 45.0% of the shares, as well as from institutional holders with 26.1% of the group's equity.

The Business

Van Elle Holdings, which was formed in 1984 and listed on AIM in 2016, provides a wide range of ground engineering techniques and services including ground investigation, general and specialist piling, rail geotechnical engineering, modular foundations, and ground improvement and stabilisation services.

It operates through three divisions: General Piling, Specialist Piling and Rail, and Ground Engineering Services; and is focused on diverse end-markets including residential and housing, infrastructure and regional construction - across which the group has completed more than 20,000 projects over the last 35 years.

The Bid

STRABAG UK has agreed to acquire Van Elle for 52.3p per share in cash, valuing the company at approximately £58.8m on a fully diluted basis.

This offer represents a significant premium of 58.5% to Van Elle's closing share price on Wednesday 8th April.

The Van Elle Directors unanimously recommend this acquisition, which is to be implemented via a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement and is expected to complete by the end of June this year.

STRABAG UK views this as a strategic move to enhance its construction services portfolio and expand its UK market presence.

My View

In late July last year, when the shares were 39.50p, I wrote that I fancied the shares for another push back up to 47p and above, while remembering that they hit 56p a couple of years previously.

This bid beats my Target Price set around this time last year - as always, I suggest that holders should take the cash from the market and reinvest immediately.

As I write,

they are standing at 51p.

(Profile 29.03.21 @ 37.5p set a Target Price of 47p*)

(Profile 14.03.25 @ 34p set a new Target Price of 42p*)