Tory donor Lord Ashcroft rakes in £300m from sale of his recruitment firm Impellam to Dutch rival HeadFirst
In the money: Impellam's chairman Lord Ashcroft (photo)
Tory donor Lord Ashcroft is set to raise almost £300 million after his recruitment company Impellam was sold to Dutch rival Headfirst for £482 million.
Ashcroft said he was “delighted” with the deal to sell a company he founded in 2008.
The former deputy leader of the Conservative Party will earn £298.8m from his 62 per cent stake in a company that recruits workers for the global technology and engineering sectors.
Impellam, which is based in Luton and has 2,000 employees, will delist from the London stock market.
The offer, which values Impellam shares at 1,084.4p each, is a 66.8 per cent premium to Tuesday's closing price and 154.6 per cent above April 2022.
The acquisition follows a lengthy courtship after the companies said they were in talks last summer.
Impellam CEO Julia Robertson and Chief Financial Officer Tim Briant will remain and join Headfirst's board of directors.
Lord Ashcroft said: 'The combined strengths of Impellam and Headfirst will create a market-leading, more digitally enabled service offering.'