'Psst... wanna buy a second hand tech firm?'

Share plunge puts UK stars under takeover threat...

Some of the UK's best-known tech companies are vulnerable to takeover as a plunging share price leaves them with an attractive amount of cash on the books. UK flagship firms Autonomy, Baltimore, Bookham and nCipher are among those at risk. Semiconductor maker Bookham, which peaked last year at a market value of £6.5bn, has now crashed to £199m, but at the end of the last quarter the company reported cash of £215m. Other companies, including Arc International, iTouch and Riversoft, are valued at less than £20m above their cash levels, making them almost as attractive for cash as for the technology they own.