US private equity firm KKR and Energy Capital Partners have raised their offer for Dublin-headquartered DCC Energy plc to US$7.7 billion after their previous $6.7 billion unsolicited bid was rejected.
This time, the proposal has been warmly accepted by the DCC board.
But the outcome isn’t certain. Major institutional investors, including Aviva Investors, Fidelity International, Marathon Asset Management and Ninety One, as well as DCC founder Jim Flavin, who collectively hold about 15% of the company, indicated they would only favour an even higher bid. Flavin dismissed the offer as “miserable”.
DCC has been listed in London and Dublin since 1994, and has been a constituent of the London Stock Exchange’s FTSE 100 Index since 2015. The stock is now at its highest since 2023 after clawing back from a sharp fall in 2022.
The company approved a name change from DCC plc. to DCC Energy in July as it refocused on its energy assets after selling its healthcare division in April 2025.
Some commentators have questioned the rationale of the takeover bid since DCC’s strategic transition is already under way. Other observers point to the LSE’s challenges in achieving high valuations for constituent companies.
According to KKR’s announcement, “despite extensive market engagement and the strategic progress made, DCC Energy has not sustainably re-rated in the public markets”.
Ryan Miller, managing director for infrastructure at KKR, said that “delivering the next phase of this transition across a complex asset base will require significant operational transformation against the backdrop of a changing and volatile energy market”.
The deal intensifies the hollowing-out of public markets already seen in other bourses as more companies opt to stay private for longer, or to delist with private equity support.
But the trend appears especially damaging for London. Indeed, the LSE has been cited as a target for privatisation bids precisely because valuations are so much lower than in the US and elsewhere.
The Financial Times reported that as of July, the value of privatisation bids for LSE-listed companies is 27 times more than the value of new listing entrants.. Other buyout targets include budget airline operator easyJet plc, with a similarly priced deal. In June, UK lab testing equipment firm Intertek agreed to a $14.5 billion privatisation by EQT.
The LSE’s post-Brexit future as a global listing venue appears increasingly challenged. So far, there is no sign of UK government or regulatory intervention in the DCC deal.
