Experian, the credit checking agency, was the day’s top performer in reaction to bid approaches for two of its financial services peers.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had agreed to buy First Data Corporation, a credit card transaction processor, for $29 billion (£14.6 billion), while a consort-ium led by Pacific Equity Partners signed a $660 million deal for Veda Advantage, an Australian credit checking agency.

That follows persistent rumours over the past few months that buyout funds were renewing their interest in Experian, having been spurned last year ahead of the agency’s demerger from GUS.

Shares in Experian climbed 19p to 604½p as analysts noted that both deals were done at premium multiples, with KKR willing to pay 27 times First Data’s current-year earnings and the Veda deal done at a multiple of about 22 times. Experian’s currently trades at about 19 times 2007 forecasts.

Traders also argued that Experian was benefiting after a push from Credit Suisse. The Swiss bank’s team repeated “outperform” advice ahead of Experian’s annual earnings on April 17, which it said should not suffer overly from the melt-down of the US sub-prime mortgage sector.

The wider market finished little changed on thin volume at the start of the second quarter, as weaker than expected US factory activity data revived concerns about the world’s biggest economy. The FTSE 100 index finished up 7.50 at 6,315.50, having peaked near the open at a one-month high of 6,342.20.

Sector consolidation hopes helped telecom stocks such as BT Group, up 6¼p at 310p, and Cable & Wireless, 4.1p better at 170.7p. That followed news that AT&T and America Movil, the Mexican mobile phone operator, were in exclusive talks to buy stakes in Telecom Italia. “The move suggests that AT&T is seriously considering establishing itself as one of the world’s global behemoths,” Per Lindberg, Dresdner Kleinwort’s technology analyst, said. “It could signal AT&T’s intent to establish a pan-European footprint.”

Scottish & Southern Energy climbed 17p to £15.58 after Mer-rill Lynch analysts calculated that the utility could spend up to £2 billion on share buybacks. The broker also said that UK utilities have a “scarcity value” in the current takeover frenzy — a comment that is likely to carry into today’s trading after news that E.ON had withdrawn its bid for Spain’s Endesa, leaving it free to look at other targets.

Scottish & Newcastle was the session’s sharpest faller, down 12p to 589½p as its 13 per cent spike over the past couple of sessions failed to shake out any confirmation that it is a bid target. Nevertheless, JPMorgan analysts reckoned that a private equity fund could justify paying up to 700p for the brewer, providing it could work out an exit route.

Enterprise Inns lost 12½p to 656p after Credit Suisse started coverage with an “underperform” rating and 610p target price. Its team was uncomfortable with assumptions that UK property valuations would keep rising indefinitely, and revealed a survey suggesting that Scottish landlords had grown more pessimistic about the effects of the smoking ban over the winter months.

Leading the mid-caps, Southern Cross Healthcare jumped 31p to 466¾p on news that it was performing ahead of expectations and signed a deal to add 29 care homes to its estate.

Well-worn speculation revived around Rentokil Initial, which rose 4¾p to 167¾p on gossip that a private equity fund was looking at funding a management-led buyout at around 220 per share.

The business services firm has been in the spotlight in the past week after Servicemaster, America’s leading pest control group, received a bid. However, sources played down the talk of management’s involvement.

— New York: shares rose as a new round of takeovers led by a $29 billion (£14.6 billion) buyout bid for First Data fuelled optimism about stock valuations, countering worries on the economy and turmoil in the housing market. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 28.0 points at 12,382.30.

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