Consolidation in specialist lending headlined a busy morning of small-cap news, with Time Finance's £55m takeover by the owner of Ultimate Finance setting the tone alongside a run of solid interim results from MTI Wireless Edge, Tekmar Group and Gattaca. Contract wins at Gulf Marine Services and Tekmar, a positive lung cancer trial readout from AstraZeneca, and a fresh commitment to UK defence technology rounded out the session's news flow.
Ultimate Finance parent to buy Time Finance for £55m
Time Finance (AIM:TIME) has agreed to a recommended cash takeover by Bentley Park (UK), the parent company of specialist asset-based lender Ultimate Finance, in a deal valuing the AIM-listed lender at approximately £55.13m. Time Finance provides UK businesses with asset finance, invoice finance, business loans and asset-based lending, and reported £37.1m of revenue and £7.9m of pre-tax profit in the year to 31 May 2025. The combination brings together Time Finance's roughly £218m net loan book with Ultimate Finance's £430m, creating a pro forma lending platform of nearly £650m.
Under the terms, shareholders will receive 59.1p in cash for each share held, a premium of 12.6% to the pre-announcement closing price of 52.50p and 27.5% above the six-month volume-weighted average price of 46.34p. Bentley Park, part of the Tavistock Group, has already secured irrevocable undertakings covering 43.82m shares, approximately 47.36% of Time Finance's issued capital, including commitments from all Time Finance directors and shareholders Arena Investors, GPIM and Ron Russell. The acquisition will proceed via a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement requiring approval from Scheme Shareholders holding at least 75% in value of votes cast, with a Scheme Document expected within 28 days and completion targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.
"This acquisition is an exciting opportunity to bring together two strong specialist lenders with complementary capabilities, shared values and a common focus on supporting UK SMEs," said Josh Levy, Chief Executive Officer, Bentley Park.
The deal removes an established AIM lender from the market at a meaningful premium and hands SME lending a rare consolidation event that pairs two complementary geographic footprints and cross-sell networks. With nearly half the register already locked in via irrevocables, including the full board, the scheme faces execution risk barring a competing offer, and the transaction sets a fresh valuation benchmark for asset-based lenders of similar scale.
MTI Wireless Edge posts double-digit growth across the board
MTI Wireless Edge (AIM:MWE) reported revenue up 11% to $26.7m for the six months to 30 June, against $24.1m a year earlier. Operating profit rose 21% to $3m, net profit climbed 28% to $2.5m and basic earnings per share increased 15% to 2.88 US cents, with gross margin improving to 33.8% from 32.5%. Net cash stood at $7.7m at period end, down from $9.4m at 31 December after a $3m dividend payment in April.
Performance across the group's divisions was uneven. The Antenna division's revenue fell 20% year-on-year after a series of defence contracts worth roughly $6m were secured late in the period, pushing revenue recognition into the second half, though operating profit held broadly level once a $100,000 bad debt provision is excluded. Mottech, the water control and irrigation business, was the standout performer, with sales up 31% and operating profit up 46%, aided by growth in North America, Italy and the Arabian Gulf.
"We have entered the second half well placed to achieve a good result for the year," said Moni Borovitz, Chief Executive. The late-period defence contract wins in Antenna effectively defer revenue rather than lose it, meaning the group enters the second half with a firmer order book than the headline first-half divisional split suggests, while Mottech's geographic diversification reduces reliance on any single regional irrigation market.
Tekmar wins €1m concrete protection contract
Tekmar Group (AIM:TGP) has been awarded a contract worth approximately €1m for concrete protection solutions on a major European offshore windfarm project. The award comes from a submarine cable contractor that is already a customer, marking the first concrete protection order from that relationship and extending Tekmar's work with the client, with delivery scheduled within calendar year 2026.
Under the contract, Tekmar will design and manufacture concrete protection and stabilisation solutions to safeguard windfarm cables and infrastructure, the disruption of which can trigger costly shutdowns and lost power generation revenue. The company frames the win as part of Project Aurora, its initiative to integrate asset protection and offshore energy services onto a single platform for customers.
"Securing this contract marks another positive step in the delivery of our growth strategy," said Richard Turner, Chief Executive, who pointed to a record level of backlog driving additional throughput and operational efficiencies. Winning a new product line from an existing cable-contractor client validates the cross-sell logic behind Project Aurora and suggests scope for further order flow from the same relationship as the wider offshore wind pipeline develops.
Gattaca profit beats guidance as contract growth drives FY26
Gattaca (AIM:GATC) expects underlying pre-tax profit of approximately £6.1m for the year ended 31 July, up from £3.3m in the prior year and ahead of its previous guidance of £6m. The specialist workforce solutions business said group net fee income rose 11% to £43.2m, up 7% on a like-for-like basis, driven by strong contract growth across infrastructure, defence, energy, mobility and digital technology.
Contract net fee income increased 16% year-on-year, or 14% like-for-like, while permanent fees stayed broadly stable, down 3% like-for-like but up 5% at group level reflecting the contribution of Infosec. Statement of Work income remained subdued through the second half as major client programmes continued to face delays. Statutory net cash stood at £15m at 31 July, against £15.7m a year earlier and £13m at the end of January, as improved sales productivity and cost focus lifted margin conversion, even as sales headcount finished 4% lower than the prior year end.
"Through our focus on the elements within our control, we enter FY27 with good momentum," said Matthew Wragg, Chief Executive Officer. Beating already-raised guidance while trimming headcount points to genuine margin improvement rather than one-off gains, and the strength in contract income across defence and infrastructure suggests the recovery is broadening beyond any single end market.
Gulf Marine Services extends Gulf vessel deal
Gulf Marine Services (AIM:GMS) has secured an extension to a Small-class vessel contract with a National Oil Company client, with two further three-month options attached to the deal.
The extension lifts the group's total contracted backlog to $659m, underlining continued demand for its self-elevating support vessels from national oil company clients in the Gulf region.
AstraZeneca's Tagrisso combo hits survival goals in lung cancer trial
AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN)'s Phase III SAFFRON trial showed that Tagrisso combined with Orpathys significantly extended both progression-free and overall survival in patients with EGFR-mutated lung cancer who had progressed on Tagrisso monotherapy.
The trial addresses a key resistance pathway that limits the durability of Tagrisso as a standalone treatment, positioning the combination as a potential new standard of care for patients who relapse after initial EGFR-targeted therapy.
Defence Holdings commits £2m as cornerstone investor in new defence fund
Defence Holdings, the UK software-led defence technology group, will co-invest £2m alongside third-party capital in early-stage defence technology companies through a newly established fund.
Five firms are already in due diligence for potential investment, giving the group an early pipeline of prospective portfolio additions in the defence technology sector.
