Blackstone and Tinicum agree £1.4bn cash takeover of UK aerospace supplier Senior PLC, delisting it from the London Stock Exchange

Senior PLC, the UK-listed aerospace and industrial engineering group, has agreed to a £1.4bn ($1.7bn) all-cash takeover by Blackstone, the US private equity giant, and Tinicum, an industrial-focused investment company. The deal, announced on 7 April 2026, will take Senior off the London Stock Exchange — the latest in a string of PE-led delistings of UK industrial groups. Senior manufactures precision-engineered components and systems for the aerospace and defence sectors, supplying major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers — the manufacturers who use components from suppliers to build finished products). The agreed bid comes after Senior previously rebuffed lower offers from Lone Star, rejecting proposals at £700m and then £840m, making the Blackstone-Tinicum approach — at a substantially higher level — the deal that finally received board recommendation. As a UK-listed public company, the acquisition will be governed by the Takeover Code (the UK's mandatory framework for public company takeovers, administered by the Takeover Panel), requiring a formal offer document, independent shareholder recommendation, and a vote by Senior's shareholders. Regulatory clearances in relevant competition jurisdictions will also be required before the deal can complete. The transaction fits a well-documented pattern of overseas and PE buyers picking off UK-listed industrials at what buyers argue are attractive valuations relative to private-market comparables. Private equity funds globally raised $86bn in Q1 2026, and the Senior deal demonstrates that aerospace supply-chain assets — buoyed by a post-pandemic recovery in commercial aviation — remain a priority target despite the broader 36% quarter-on-quarter decline in global PE buyout volumes recorded in Q1 2026.

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