Mitie Group has reached an agreement on the terms of a £366m acquisition offer for business services and software firm, Marlowe.

The cash and share offer by the outsourcing and energy services company represents a premium of 26.5% on Marlowe’s closing share price of 368 pence on 3 June.

Under the terms of the deal, Marlowe shareholders will receive over 86.5 million new Mitie shares and will subsequently own 6.4% of Mitie’s share capital.

The acquisition forms part of Mitie’s three-year plan, which began in its 2025 financial year. The plan looked to pivot the firm from being a facilities management firm to a "technology-led and data-driven facilities transformation" company.

Its directors said that Marlowe’s broader service capability presents an opportunity to cross-sell and upsell regulatory driven services across its customer base.

As a result, Mitie believes that the acquisition will create a UK leader in each of the key sub-sectors of the testing, inspection and certification (TIC) market by combining the firm’s "complimentary capabilities".

Chief executive officer at Mitie, Phil Bentley, said: "With growing legislation around fire, security and water & air quality, our clients need a partner who can also offer a broad range of facilities compliance capabilities. In a growing TIC market valued at £7.6bn per annum, Marlowe stands out as a leader in fire & security and water & air and asbestos compliance.

"Adding Marlowe's c.3,000 highly respected colleagues to Mitie's capabilities and providing access to Mitie's clients will generate significant revenue growth opportunities as well as immediate cost efficiencies. We are excited about the next chapter in Mitie's history to become a leading facilities compliance provider."

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, added that Mitie has been on "quite a run of late", after its shares tripled over the past three years.

He concluded: "While it is still early days for a new strategic plan, the progress so far looks encouraging. Bigger acquisitions are now in motion with a takeover bid for AIM-quoted Marlowe, a buy and build company that’s carved a niche in the non-discretionary side of facilities management.

"The pullback in Mitie’s share price on the results and acquisition announcement might simply be down to profit taking by shareholders. Certain investors often believe it is better to travel than arrive, so a set of results after a strong rally for a stock can be the trigger to get out while the going is good."

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