Three British listed firms have agreed on takeover offers in the latest assault on the city

London’s stock market came under renewed pressure this morning after a trio of British listed companies announced plans to leave the City.

FTSE 250 companies Bodycote and Gamma Communications and energy company Capricorn Energy have unveiled new takeover offers that cap months of interest in the companies.

The board of industrial coatings company Bodycote unanimously recommended a £1.85 billion takeover by US private equity firm Veritas Capital, which won the race after outbidding Amsterdam-listed private equity giant CVC.

The 940p per share offer includes 932.8p in cash and an interim dividend of 7.2p, representing a 34.5 per cent premium to Bodycote’s share price before takeover speculation first surfaced in May.

Gamma Communications agreed to a £1.08 billion takeover by British buyout firm Epiris, just days after confirming it was in talks with Netherlands-based Waterland over a potential takeover.

Gamma shareholders will receive 1,120 pence in cash per share, valuing the company at £1.02 billion in equity, representing a 53 percent premium to shares after interest in the group emerged months ago.

The telecom provider told shareholders in May that it was in discussions with Epiris and was fending off interest from other companies, including Providence Equity Partners and Oakley Capital.

Waterland planned to buy Gamma before selling much of it to Giacom, a telecoms company chaired by Matthew Riley and backed by Inflexion, another private equity firm.

Epiris said today that private ownership will “enable Gamma to invest further and focus on sustainably improving the long-term growth of its businesses.”

The deals represent the latest blow to London’s status as a global listing location, having already been hit by a series of takeovers and high-profile defections this year.

These are included Easyjet, which agreed to a £5.7 billion takeover deal with private equity firm Apollo and owner of Paddy Power Flutter, which recently delisted from London to mention exclusively in New York.

It came as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the value of takeovers of British companies by foreign predators reached £25.4 billion in the second quarter of the year, £9.7 billion more than in the first quarter.

In addition, Norwegian oil company DNO today agreed to acquire British-listed Capricorn Energy for $396 million (£292 million), outbidding rival Genel Energy.

Capricorn withdrew its support for Genel’s $4.74 per share offer in July after the Kurdistan-focused DNO trumped the deal by offering $5.214 in cash for each Capricorn share.

DNO’s interest in Capricorn comes weeks later his attempt to buy Genel was rejected due to rating issues.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: ‘Any hopes that the steady leakage from FTSE companies to foreign buyers has been stopped will be dashed by this morning’s trio of announcements.

‘Barely a month after the deal to take Easyjet private, more companies continue to be bought, while London remains a bargain worth exploring by others. Although it does not have the size or reputation of Easyjet, the news is a further blow to the efforts of the LSE, the City of London and the Government to preserve the importance of London’s financial markets.”

Bodycote shares rose 4.44 per cent to 953.5p in early trading, while Gamma Communications rose 0.79 per cent to 1,149p. Capricorn Energy rose 7.58 percent to 369p.