P124 CEEFAX 124 Sun 3 Apr 21:44/25 1/3 TOPICS, BIDS & DEALS Mr Andrew Simon's Evode Group has returned to the acquisition trail with the purchase of a 95pc stake in the oh-so-cleverly-named Italian plastics firm, SO.F.TET. The dial calls for an initial payment of some £1.74m, with a further £6.05m payable on completion. Helping fund the exercise is a placing of some 3.85m new Evode shares, which should raise nearly £5.8m. * SO.F.TET is a producer of elastomjt compounds for use in the shoe industry. MoreP124 CEEFAX 124 Sun 3 Apr 20:44/59 2/3 TOPICS, BIDS & DEALS Hetts-based Frogmore Estates has come up with a sizjable acquisition. Just six months after selling a port- folio of 11 properties to New England Properties for more than £20m, Frogmore is paying some £6.8m for fellow trader and developer Portland Group. Coveting the cost is an issue to the vendors of nearly 2.1m new Frogmore ordinary shares. * Another £750,000 could bj payable, depending on the extent to which pre- tax profits top £2.5m. Frogmore Shares 132P124 CEEFAX 124 Sun 3 Apr 20:49/44 3/3 TOPICS, BIDS & DEALS Grand Metropolitan has found a buzjr for its prestigious Hotel Meurice. CIGA Hotels are paying £35m in a dial subject only to French Government approval. Grand Met announced on Monday it had put the 192-room Paris hotel up for sale. It said it was selling the Meurice as part of a review of the worldwide operations of its Inter-Continental offshoot but had no plans at present to sell any further hotels. Grand Met Shares 130