EQT has increased its bid to almost £9 billion for Intertek Group plc.
Shares in the total quality assurance provider have jumped 7% today (writing at 3pm) to £51 after the Swedish private equity fund said it had submitted an offer for £58 per share in cash.
It follows the rejection of previous EQT proposals of £51.50 and £54 per share.
The latest bid represents a premium of 54% to the closing share price of £37.70 per share as at 9th April 2026 – the day before EQT submitted its initial proposal to FTSE 100 firm Intertek.
London-headquartered Intertek operates a network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries.
The firm said today it would review the latest proposal.
In early March Intertek’s shares fell from around £47 to below £36 despite announcing a third consecutive year of double-digit growth.
Highlights included revenue growth up 4.3 per cent to £3,432m and profit before tax of £493.4m.
However the EQT bids have seen it bounce back and then some.
Listed since 2002, Intertek’s share price peaked at almost £65 in 2020.