(Reuters) -Shares in Evotec soared 22% on Monday after private equity firm Triton confirmed a close to 10% stake in the German drug development company, and a media report said it was weighing a takeover bid.
Triton now holds a 9.99% stake in Evotec, making it its biggest shareholder, the companies told Reuters.
Bloomberg News reported that Triton was exploring a potential buyout, citing people familiar with the matter.
Triton and Evotec declined to comment on the Bloomberg report.
Evotec said earlier on Monday that Triton building a stake had no impact on its day-to-day operations, after regulatory filings showed it had raised its stake to 3% on Nov.
4 and to 9% as of Nov. 5.
Evotec’s other major shareholders are Novo Nordisk parent Novo Holdings and Mubadala Investment.
Triton’s other investments range from pharmaceutical companies Bormioli Pharma and Clinigen to tank gearbox manufacturer Renk.
If Monday’s gains hold, the Evotec shares will see their biggest daily increase since April 2003.
The session’s gains narrowed its year-to-day losses to around 56%, from 64% at Friday’s close.
(Reporting by Isabel Demetz in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi)
