Veritas won Bodycote by 25 pence, and the market wants a recount.
Two bids sat a penny apart for a month. Veritas found 25 more, and the shares now trade above the price that won.
Bodycote's auction spent most of August stuck one penny apart, Veritas at around 914 pence and CVC at 915, until Veritas found another 25 and left with the company. The recommended offer announced on Tuesday values the FTSE 250 heat treatment specialist at roughly £1.65 billion of equity, about £1.85 billion once debt is included, and ends, or at least pauses, one of the more watchable contests London has staged this year.
