Spirent Communications (SPNUF) has accepted a takeover offer from Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS), valuing the British telecom testing company at 1.16 billion pounds ($1.46 billion), the telecom company said on Thursday.
The deal marks a shift away from Spirent's previous support for a lower offer from Viavi Solutions (NASDAQ:VIAV), which was 15% less.
SPT shares jumped 10% in London trading on Thursday.
Keysight, a U.S.-based maker of electronic equipment, proposed buying SPT for 201.5 pence per share. This offer significantly outpaces the 175 pence per share bid made by Viavi in early March.
The deal with Keysight brings Spirent shareholders a substantial 85.9% premium over the company's share price of 108.4 pence on March 4, notably higher than the 61.4% premium offered by Viavi's bid.
"Keysight's offer for Spirent will provide further opportunities for our employees and strengthens our customer offering, given Keysight's technology expertise, capabilities and robust global platform with its breadth and depth of industry-leading solutions," said Chief Executive of Spirent, Eric Updyke.
"The market environment remains challenging but with this strong strategic fit, bringing together our complementary services and solutions, we are confident in the opportunities this will bring for our stakeholders."