ECLIPSE Blinds is the latest company to be caught in the tide of takeover fever washing over corporate Scotland.
Following a sharp increase in its share price, Eclipse was forced to admit last night that it was ''in preliminary discussions which may or may not lead to an offer for the company''.
Based at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire, Eclipse makes components for window blinds. It has satellite operations in the US, which account for half of group sales, and in Sweden.
Following a profits warning in November, triggered by poor sales in the UK, Eclipse shares slipped to a four-year low of 57.5p at the start of this week. They bounced back yesterday, rising 30p to 87.5p. This boosted the company's market capitalisation to #38m.
But one City analyst said any serious bid would probably have to come in at over 100p, valuing Eclipse at #43m or more.
Chairman Ted Black declined to reveal the identity of the suitor. But he said the approach had been friendly and the discussions were at a very early stage. The question of price had not yet arisen.
''There's nothing hostile here,'' Black said. ''Discussions mean discussions and not argument.'' He said it could be a month or two before further news emerged.
Sources close to Eclipse said it was not simply being taken private by its management - like Clyde Blowers at the end of last year. But, following the bid approach, its management might well consider a buy-out as an alternative to being taken over, they added.
There has been a flurry of takeover activity in Scotland over the past two weeks.
Richard Andrews, a smaller companies analyst with Greig Middleton in Edinburgh, said Eclipse, which employs 140 people in Scotland, faced the same plight as all small-cap companies in the UK. They are simply out of favour with investors.
''Smaller cap valuations in the market are very depressed and that means many of these companies are going to be taken over or taken private,'' he said.
Eclipse was nursed back to financial health by company doctor Hamish Grossart between 1992 and 1998 after a near-death experience as part of the Ashley Group. It made a pre-tax profit of #7.2m before exceptional items on turnover of #45.4m in 1997, but warned in November that 1998 profits would fall short of this.
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