London, June 6, 2026, 22:04 BST
Intertek Group plc shares closed the week in positive territory, though they remain far from EQT’s £60-a-share possible bid level. The focus for investors now is on whether the Swedish buyout group will come back with a formal offer next week.
London trading was closed Saturday. The London Stock Exchange is open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST. That puts Intertek’s latest trading price at Friday’s close.
Intertek ended Friday up 1.21% at 5,455 pence after reaching 5,470p, with 806,340 shares traded, according to market data. Shares closed about 10% under the £60 cash offer, keeping a spread that signals deal risk, such as possible delay or failure.
The shares ended the week up 2.5% from a May 29 close of 5,320p. That move outpaced the broader market, with Reuters noting the FTSE 100, London’s main index, just eked out a 0.07% rise on Friday before closing the week with losses.
EQT has until June 11, 5:00 p.m. London time to decide its next step. The UK Takeover Panel says this is the Rule 2.6 deadline. By then, EQT needs to either go firm with an offer or drop out, unless both sides agree to push the date.
Intertek said May 13 that EQT’s last conditional offer was £60 a share in cash, after earlier bids of £51.50, £54, and £58. Intertek also said shareholders could keep the earlier-declared 107.7p final dividend if it gets approved, with no cut to the cash offer.
Board shifts to conditional backing. Intertek said it is “minded to recommend” EQT’s financial terms if a firm offer comes on the same basis, with due diligence and final agreements still needed. The company has also stopped work on a strategic review that looked at splitting off Energy & Infrastructure from Testing & Assurance. Investegate
Panmure Liberum analyst Joe Brent told Reuters there’s a “good chance” Intertek will take the latest offer. He said short-term investors would probably want a quick profit instead of risking the shares dropping back to pre-bid levels. Reuters
Intertek had only just tried to refresh its equity story before the bid landed. In April, the company posted 5.4% like-for-like revenue growth for the first quarter. Like-for-like strips out currency and portfolio shifts to focus on underlying growth. The group kept its mid-single-digit revenue guidance at constant currency. CEO André Lacroix called it a “strong start” to the year. Investegate
The takeover move comes in a sector where getting bigger is key. Bureau Veritas and SGS, both publicly traded testing and certification companies, were in merger talks in 2025 that Reuters said could have built a group topping $30 billion. But SGS later pulled out.
The downside risk is priced in. If EQT skips a formal offer or due diligence hits a problem, Intertek likely trades back on its standalone outlook, its halted break-up plan, and recent performance. Then attention moves to the next company dates, the June 24 final dividend and July 31 half-year earnings.
Right now, Intertek is trading more like an event play than a usual FTSE 100 industrial name. The stock price shows investors are looking for improvement, but it doesn’t show real conviction yet.
