London, Feb 8, 2026, 09:06 GMT — Market closed.
- Long Path Partners claims it’s lined up backing for roughly 49.26% of Idox shares in advance of its cash bid.
- On Friday, Idox finished at 71.0p—about 0.7% under the 71.5p offer price.
- Investors are tracking acceptances heading into the March 16 deadline, the point when the offer becomes unconditional—assuming conditions are satisfied.
Long Path Partners says regulatory filings related to its proposed cash bid for Idox (IDOX.L) show “aggregate support” stands at roughly 49.26%—just under the majority threshold—when tallying its own holdings with both undertakings and non-binding letters of intent. London South East
This is crucial—the offer can’t succeed unless the bidder secures over 50% of Idox’s voting rights. With mid-March approaching, time is getting tight.
London markets are closed Sunday. So on Monday, eyes turn to whether Idox’s share price creeps closer to the cash offer—or if that slim difference starts widening again as investors weigh deal risk and timing.
Idox finished Friday at 71.0 pence, up just 0.20 pence. The FTSE AIM 100 index added 0.56%, per Hargreaves Lansdown figures. Shares wrapped up the session roughly 0.7% under the 71.5p-per-share cash bid.
Frankel UK Bidco tallied valid acceptances at roughly 19.12% as of 4:30 p.m. London on Feb. 5, according to a fresh update. Factoring in additional shares considered supportive, that figure bumps up to around 25.34% for its acceptance threshold. The offer remains open until 1 p.m. London time on March 16.
More UK Takeover Code filings continued to trickle in. Peel Hunt, via a Form 8.5 disclosure, flagged multiple client trades—both buying and selling—of Idox shares at prices mostly between 70.8 and 71.0 pence on Feb. 5.
Back in October, Long Path struck a deal to acquire Idox for 339.5 million pounds, or 71.5 pence per share. Idox, for its part, develops specialized software for government planning, compliance, and election tech.
Support figures don’t equate to actual acceptances. Letters of intent aren’t binding—holders remain free to back out or trade shares ahead of a formal acceptance.
Arb investors face a clear risk here: if the level of acceptances doesn’t hit that crucial majority threshold, the offer might get postponed, reworked, or simply collapse. In that case, Idox shares could easily slip back to their pre-bid trading range.
The next thing to watch: if new filings reveal acceptances piling up ahead of the March 16 cutoff, and whether the bidder goes ahead and makes the offer unconditional after crossing that 50% voting-rights mark.
