German plastics maker Covestro rejected a report on Friday that it was in takeover talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Shares in the blue-chip company were trading up 6.1% by 0723 GMT, having risen as much as 11% in pre-market trade following a Bloomberg report that Apollo was exploring a takeover.
“We are not in takeover talks with Apollo,” spokesman Lars Boelke said. “We are regularly in talks with various market participants about strategic opportunities.”
Apollo could not immediately be reached for comment.
Shares in Covestro, which was spun out from Bayer in 2015, have shed more than half of their value since hitting a peak in February 2018.
It had a market value of 8.14 billion euros ($9.64 billion) as of Thursday’s market close, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
The company told Reuters last month it was on track for better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter as stay-at-home workers’ appetite to upgrade their mobile devices and furniture drives demand for the company’s materials.
Source: Reuters.com