Fairey Group, the specialist process technology group, is reappearing on the financial community's radar screens. After a couple of years languishing on analysts' backburners, its recent acquisition of Spectris AG for £126m (&euro207.9m) has revived interest in the company.

The acquisition is Fairey's largest ever and nearly doubles its size. Fairey's confidence in its long-term prospects is illustrated by the fact that it has turned to the equity market with a £54.4m rights issue to part-fund the deal, at a time when many other medium-sized companies are turning away from it.