Intertek, the London-listed laboratory testing and certification giant, has agreed to back a £10.6 billion takeover bid from EQT, the Swedish private equity firm closely tied to the billionaire Wallenberg family. The move marks a significant turning point for the FTSE 100 company, which has spent months weighing its independence against a series of increasingly aggressive offers.
The board of Intertek stated it is now minded to recommend a proposal of £60 per share to its shareholders, provided a firm offer is finalized. The Intertek EQT takeover represents a substantial premium over previous attempts to acquire the business, with the total deal value reaching £10.6 billion including debt, or approximately £9.4 billion on a debt-free basis.
The announcement sent Intertek shares climbing nearly 7% to £56.65 on Wednesday morning, as investors reacted to the board’s shift in stance. This deal adds to a growing list of high-profile exits from the UK’s premier index this year, following similar multibillion-pound acquisitions of the fund manager Schroders and the insurer Beazley.
A persistent pursuit of value
The path to this agreement was not a straight line. Intertek’s board had previously rebuffed three separate approaches from EQT, each of which attempted to find the company’s price point. The final £60-a-share offer succeeded where earlier bids of £58, £54 and £51 per share had failed.
| Bid Sequence | Offer Price (per share) | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Approach | £51.0 | Rejected |
| Second Approach | £54.0 | Rejected |
| Third Approach | £58.0 | Rejected |
| Final Proposal | £60.0 | Minded to Recommend |
The willingness of the board to pivot comes amid a climate of intense pressure from activist investors. Matt Peltz, son of billionaire activist Nelson Peltz and manager of the fund Lost Coast Collective, has been a vocal critic of Intertek’s management. Holding a 1.2% stake in the company, Peltz urged the board to accept the offer, arguing that the market had lost faith in the current leadership’s ability to execute a standalone turnaround.
In a letter sent to the company on Tuesday, Lost Coast Collective noted that while management may believe in an operational fix, the stock price suggested otherwise. Peltz wrote that it was time to recognize the merits of the EQT proposal and engage in good faith to complete the transaction.
The Wallenberg legacy and EQT
EQT is not a typical private equity shop. Founded in 1994 as a spinout from Investor AB, the industrial holding company of the Wallenberg family, the firm operates under a philosophy of responsible ownership. Its motto, “More than capital,” reflects the family’s long-term approach to industrial stewardship—a stark contrast to the “strip-and-flip” reputation often associated with the buyout industry.
The Wallenberg family’s influence in Swedish and global industry is legendary, dating back to 1856 when André Oscar Wallenberg founded what is now SEB. Their business empire is estimated by Bloomberg to be worth approximately $40 billion (£29.6bn). This historical perspective of adaptation was captured in a 1946 letter from Marcus Wallenberg to his brother Jacob, in which he argued that moving from the old to what is about to come is the only tradition worth keeping.
From grain testing to global certification
For EQT, Intertek represents a massive operational footprint. Headquartered in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2002, Intertek has evolved from a 19th-century venture testing grain cargoes into a global powerhouse with more than 1,000 labs and 45,000 employees worldwide.
Until recently, the company led by CEO André Lacroix had been pursuing a rigorous strategic review of its operations. The board had been evaluating whether to separate its business into two distinct entities: a product testing division generating £1.9 billion in annual revenue and an energy and infrastructure division bringing in £1.6 billion. This potential demerger was intended to unlock value for shareholders who felt the conglomerate structure was masking the true worth of the individual segments.
However, the board has now paused that strategic review to focus on the EQT proposal. While the board maintained it remained confident in the company’s standalone strategy, the financial allure of the £60-per-share offer proved too significant to ignore after consulting with major investors.
What happens next
The deal is not yet a certainty. The final proposal from EQT remains subject to several preconditions, most notably the completion of a comprehensive due diligence process. Once these conditions are met and a firm offer is tabled, the deal will move to a formal vote by Intertek’s shareholders.
The outcome will be closely watched by other FTSE 100 companies. The trend of private equity firms targeting undervalued UK assets suggests that more “blue-chip” businesses may find themselves the subject of buyout bids if their share prices continue to lag behind their intrinsic operational value.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice.
The next confirmed checkpoint for the deal will be the conclusion of EQT’s due diligence period, after which a formal offer will be presented to the shareholders for a vote. We will update this story as official filings are made available via Intertek’s investor relations portal.
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