Intertek Group plc has rejected a third offer of almost £9 billion from Swedish private equity firm EQT.
EQT’s offer, for £58 per share in cash, was revealed earlier this week and followed the rejection of previous proposals of £51.50 and £54 per share.
The latest bid represented 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 board of Intertek has carefully reviewed the further revised proposal with its advisers and unanimously concluded that it significantly undervalues Intertek and its future prospects and there is significant execution risk given its conditional nature,” it stated.
“Accordingly, the Intertek board unanimously and unequivocally rejected [the proposal].”
Intertek is evaluating the potential separation – either through a sale or demerger – of its energy & infrastructure business from its testing & assurance business.
“The board believes [this] presents a significant value creation opportunity for Intertek shareholders,” it stated this morning.
“A separation following the strategic review would create two high-quality global businesses with a strong historical operational and financial track record and compelling opportunities for further growth.
“While a separation could be either through a sale or a demerger, the board of Intertek is prioritising a sales-led process and Intertek has already received an encouraging level of interest from potential buyers of Intertek Energy & Infrastructure.”
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% to £3,432m and profit before tax of £493.4m.
However the EQT bids have seen it bounce back. At the time of writing (8.30am), shares are at £48 after falling 4% in early trading. They remain 3% up this week and 27% higher than a month ago.
Listed since 2002, Intertek’s share price peaked at almost £65 in 2020.