Speculation about imminent takeover talks with Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company Adnoc caused Covestro shares to jump on Friday. Within a few minutes, the plastics company’s securities rose in price by up to 11.4 percent to 53.22 euros amid high trading volumes, making them higher than they have been in more than a year and a half. At the close of the stock exchange in Frankfurt there was still an increase of 7.8 percent.
According to a report by the Bloomberg agency, Covestro is preparing for formal talks with Adnoc about a twelve billion dollar offer. The supervisory board will vote on Friday whether to give the green light, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. A Covestro spokesman initially declined to comment.
According to insiders, Adnoc initially informally offered 55 euros per Covestro share in June and then increased it to 57 euros per share in July, but this was not well received by the company. Many investors on the stock exchange were skeptical as to whether an offer would actually be made.