Intertek nears EQT takeover agreement in £10.6bn UK buyout

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Intertek EQT takeover nears

Highlights

Intertek’s board plans to recommend a £60 per share firm bid from EQT valuing the company at £10.6bn, with a Thursday offer deadline.
EQT’s proposal represents up to a 62 per cent premium to Intertek’s April 9 closing share price, following multiple rejections and investor pressure for a deal.
The takeover would add Intertek to a rising number of FTSE 100 buyouts, heightening concerns over UK public market valuations attracting private equity acquirers.

Board recommendation and offer timeline

As first reported by Financial Times, Intertek’s board plans to recommend a firm bid from EQT at £60 a share as soon as Thursday, according to people familiar with the talks. Under UK takeover rules, EQT has until Thursday to make a firm offer or walk away.

The agreement follows a lengthy pursuit by the Sweden-based buyout group. Intertek had rejected three earlier approaches before the sides reached a preliminary agreement a month ago, allowing due diligence and further negotiations, and they extended the deadline for a firm offer to June 18 last week.

EQT’s latest proposal represents a premium of up to 62 per cent to Intertek’s closing share price on April 9, before the first approach was made. EQT declined to comment, while Intertek could not immediately be reached for comment.

Investor pressure and UK market implications

Investor pressure on Intertek’s leadership has intensified as shareholders push for a transaction. Palliser Capital urged the board on Tuesday to open talks with EQT so that a favourable deal could be reached, while Matt Peltz, who owns more than 1 per cent of the company, told directors in a letter that the time had come to engage with the latest proposal.

Intertek chief executive André Lacroix has so far resisted a takeover, even as the company announced after EQT’s first approach on April 10 that it would explore separating its energy and infrastructure business through a sale or demerger. PrimeStone Capital, which says it holds a 0.5 per cent stake, has also urged management to engage, arguing the company has materially underperformed peers under Lacroix’s leadership.

The prospective deal would add Intertek to a growing list of FTSE 100 companies agreeing to takeovers and would extend a broader run of private equity buyouts of London-listed businesses. That trend is adding to concern in the City that weak valuations in the UK public market are leaving companies more exposed to acquisition interest.

UK founders selling businesses are facing tighter scrutiny from HM Revenue & Customs over whether common sale-related payments such as earnouts should be taxed as employment income rather than capital gains. Our earlier coverage highlighted that HMRC is focusing in particular on arrangements that link consideration to a seller’s continued role after a transaction, a shift that could materially increase tax bills and compliance risk around deal structures.

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