British insurer esure Group Plc has denied a report that it been approached with a potential takeover offer.
Sky News reported earlier that buyout groups “thought to include” KKR & Co were considering bids for the car and home insurer. (bit.ly/297hkSz)
KKR declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while esure said it would not comment beyond its statement denying that it had been contacted.
Esure said this month that it was considering strategic options including a demerger of its price comparison website, Gocompare.com.
Deutsche Bank, esure’s adviser on the potential demerger of Gocompare.com, has also been asked to find buyers for the entire company, Sky News reported.
At 1158 GMT, Esure’s stock was up 7 percent at 276.89 pence, making it the top gainer on the FTSE Midcap Index.
The shares rose as much as 14.3 percent earlier on the Sky News report. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)
Reuters
