Renishaw shares rallied after Bloomberg reported late on Friday that the engineer, which has put itself up for sale, is attracting initial interest from Danaher and Swedish rival Hexagon AB.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said US medical equipment maker Danaher is considering teaming up with Fortive Corp, the industrial company it spun off in 2016, to bid for Renishaw and then split up the business.
Renishaw may also approach rival engineering and precision measurement companies such as Ametek, Mettler-Toledo International, Japan’s Keyence and France’s Schneider Electric, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
It was also understood that a small number of private equity firms have separately shown interest.
Renishaw announced early in March that it was putting itself up for sale as its founders look to sell their stake. The company said at the time that executive chairman Sir David McMurtry and non-executive deputy chairman John Deer would sell their shareholdings in Renishaw, which together make up around 53% of the group.
Renishaw said they had expressed a preference for the disposal of their entire combined shareholding.
At 1110 BST, the shares were up 5.9% at 6,355p.
On Friday, Renishaw upgraded its full-year guidance as it pointed to “good momentum” in the business. In a brief update for the year to 30 June 2021, the company highlighted “particularly strong” demand in the semiconductor capital equipment and consumer electronics markets.
“With a record order book, we currently anticipate that revenue for the full year will be between £540m and £570m, and adjusted profit before tax will be between £105m and £125m,” it said.
In its half-year report in February, Renishaw had said it was expecting revenue of between £515m and £545m and profit of £85m to £105m.
