A leading maker and operator of passport booths and digital picture kiosks has confirmed it is in the takeover frame.
Photo- Me International said it was conducting a strategic review, which may or may not lead to an offer of the company, but did not confirm a report that it had received an approach from Bahraini investment group Arcapita.
The Bookham, Surreybased company has, however, appointed JP Morgan Cazenove as financial advisers.
Photo-Me's vending division has more than 20,000 photo booths in 20 countries, including 5,600 in the UK and Ireland. It has also manufactured thousands of digital media kiosks, which allow people to print from digital cameras and picture phones.
Shares were up ten per cent to 95p in early trading, giving the company a market value of £346 million.
Half-year results in January showed operating profits fell by ten per cent to £16.5 million, as a disappointing performance in manufacturing offset progress from the vending operation.
Photo-Me operates in 20 countries, with vending territories in France, the UK and Japan.
