The prospect of a bidding war for Kin + Carta sent shares in the technology services specialist sharply higher after a second suitor came forward with an offer to buy it.

Investors piled into the company, which builds data and software solutions for clients using Microsoft and Google technologies, after it recommended a 130p-a-share cash offer from Valtech, which is controlled indirectly by funds advised by BC Partners, the private equity group.

Valtech’s swoop comes weeks after Apax Partners, another private equity player, increased its all-cash bid to 120p a share, which the board of Kin + Carta said at the time was “fair and reasonable”. The company said it had now withdrawn its recommendation of the revised offer.

Kin + Carta’s shares leapt by 17p, or 14.8 per cent, to close at a near-ten-month high of 132p.

Investors found plenty to be cheerful about on the wider market. Despite a stronger pound, the FTSE 100 rose 23.55 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 7,638.03, while the more UK-focused FTSE 250 added 95.43 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 19,315.98.

Higher metals prices gave a push to miners such as Fresnillo, which improved 21¾p, or 3.9 per cent, to 576¾p — as well as to Anglo American and Antofagasta, which gained, respectively, 70¼p, or 3.9 per cent, to £18.91½, and 47p, or 2.9 per cent, to £16.85.

Investors took a punt on London’s bookmakers, including Flutter Entertainment, which rose 475p, or 3.5 per cent, to £139.20 after Peel Hunt upgraded the gambling stock to a “buy” amid hopes that its secondary listing in the United States would drive up demand for the shares by giving American investors “exposure to a fast-growing local market leader”. Excitement over the shake-up in Entain’s boardroom meant the Ladbrokes operator secured its fifth consecutive day of gains as its shares picked up another 34¾p, or 3.6 per cent, to £10.12.

Wizz Air flew towards the top of the FTSE 250 risers’ board, finishing 126½p, or 6.4 per cent, higher at £21.07 , after s UBS instructed its clients to buy the airline’s shares. Its reasoning is that traffic growth should continue at Wizz, given its cost base and focus on central and eastern European and Middle East markets.

Burberry capped gains on the Footsie, falling 31p, or 2.1 per cent, to £14.83½ after Jefferies aired concerns over whether the attractiveness of the luxury group’s new products would be enough to offset a weak trading backdrop.

Elsewhere, shares in DP Eurasia, which runs the Domino’s Pizza brand in Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, jumped 7½p, or 8.6 per cent, to 95p after it rejected an improved takeover offer from Jubilant Foodworks, its biggest shareholder.

Under Jubilant’s revised proposal, DP Eurasia’s shareholders were offered 95p a share, up from a previous offer of 85p, but the board believes the new offer still “significantly undervalues” the company and that Jubilant has sought to “exploit” being a good commercial partner to its advantage by seeking to delist the company without offering fair value, to the detriment of minority shareholders

Wall Street report

Rate cut hopes drove indices higher. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 251.90 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 37,557.92, a record for a fifth day. The S&P 500 rose 27.81 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 4,768.37, in touch of its record high in 2022 of 4,796.56.