UK's Intertek set to back $12.7 billion EQT takeover bid after three refusals

* Intertek pauses strategic review

* Company ​grants EQT due diligence access

* EQT's final offer includes 60 pounds per share in cash

* Offer deadline is ​extended ‌to June 11

May 13 - Britain's Intertek is likely to recommend a 9.4-billion-pound ($12.72-billion) takeover proposal by Swedish ⁠private equity group EQT, the product testing company said ⁠on Wednesday, after rejecting three previous bids. Shares ​of Intertek rose by nearly 8% to 57.2 pounds in early trading after it also paused a strategic review it had been carrying out. If agreed, the deal would be ​the UK's ‌third-largest private equity takeover, according to LSEG data. EQT is being given access to confirmatory due diligence before it decides on whether it wants to confirm its fourth and final proposal.

Over the last month, Intertek rebuffed three proposals from EQT on valuation and ​execution risk grounds. On Wednesday it said the fourth bid was more suitable, after ‌some investors pressed Intertek to engage with EQT.

"The board of Intertek considers that the financial terms of the final proposal deliver ‌value in cash to Intertek shareholders at a level which it would be minded to recommend to Intertek shareholders," the company said in a statement.

If the proposal translates into ​a firm offer by a new deadline of June 11, Intertek said it was likely to recommend it, ‌although it cautioned there was no certainty an offer would be made.

Under the latest bid, EQT proposed 60 pounds per Intertek share in cash and a potential 1.1-pound annual ⁠dividend, a ⁠40% premium in total to the stock's closing price on ‌April 15, the day before EQT made its first approach public.

Intertek launched its review a day after ​it received EQT's first ​bid in early April, which many analysts had viewed ‌as a defensive move.

EQT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Intertek Group