EQT raises Intertek bid to $12B
- EQT raised its Intertek approach again on May 5, offering £58 a share in cash and valuing the UK testing group at about £8.93 billion. - The new bid is EQT’s third in three weeks, after Intertek rejected £51.50 and £54 offers as too low and shares still traded below £58. - The clock now matters most — EQT must make a firm offer by May 14 or walk away under UK takeover rules.
Testing and certification is not flashy. But it is the kind of business private equity loves — recurring, global, and tied to regulation, supply chains, and product safety. That is why EQT keeps coming back for Intertek. On May 5, the Swedish buyout firm raised its offer again, this time to £58 per share in cash, valuing the British group at about £8.93 billion, or roughly $12 billion. (londonstockexchange.com) ### What does Intertek actually do? Intertek is one of those companies that sits behind the scenes and touches a huge amount of commerce. It tests products, inspects factories and shipments, audits processes, and certifies that goods meet safety, quality, and(londonstockexchange.com)bal trade gets more complex, businesses like Intertek become more useful. (intertek.com) ### What changed this week? EQT submitted a further revised proposal on May 5 for all of Intertek’s ordinary shares at £58 in cash. Intertek confirmed it had received the approach and said the board was reviewing it with advisers. This is still not a firm offer — that matters — but it is a real escalation from where talks started less than a month ago. (londonstockexchange.com) ### How fast did the price move? Pretty fast. EQT first submitted an indicative proposal on April 10. Intertek rejected that initial approach on April 13. EQT then came back with £54 per share, which Intertek unanimously rejected on April 24, saying the propo(londonstockexchange.com) sees Intertek as worth stretching for. (advfn.com) ### Why didn’t Intertek just say yes? Because boards do not judge a bid only by the headline premium. They also judge what they think the business is worth on its own. Intertek’s board used unusually blunt language on the £54 offer — it said that bid fundamentally u(advfn.com)l wide. (intertek.com) ### Why are investors so interested in this sector? Inspection, testing, and certification companies tend to sell mission-critical services. Customers may cut marketing budgets in a downturn, but they still need products tested and suppliers (intertek.com)financial interest because compliance is sticky — once a company builds testing and assurance into its operations, it usually does not rip that out lightly. (intertek.com) ### What does the share price say? On the day of the new proposal, Intertek shares jumped 9.6% to 52.64 pounds. But they still traded well below EQT’s 58-pound proposal. That discount usually means investors see execution risk — maybe the buyer walks, maybe financing gets harder, maybe the board still wants more. In other words, the market thinks a deal is possible, not done. (cnbc.com) ### So what happens next? The UK takeover code now sets the pace. EQT has until 5:00 p.m. on May 14, 2026, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or say it does not intend to proceed, unless the deadline gets extended with the Takeover Panel’s consent. That makes the next few days the real decision window. (londonstockexchange.com) ### Bottom line? This is a straightforward fight over price, but it says something bigger about the market. Boring infrastructure for trust — testing, certification, compliance — is still valuable enough that a buyout firm is willing to keep bidding higher. Now Intertek has to decide whether £58 is finally close to fair value, or just the latest step in the auction. (londonstockexchange.com)
