Afren, the oil and gas group, advanced 5.9p to 109.4, having reassured investors after the close on Tuesday that an ongoing investigation into unauthorised payments had so far found no evidence of other similar transactions.
Nigerian explorer South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPetro) on Monday disclosed a shareholding in Afren, which spurred bid chatter. Deutsche Bank said the investigation update “will inevitably raise fresh questions on Afren’s vulnerability to a takeover, especially when one considers that SAPetro…has recently built a 3pc stake”.