People familiar with the matter said that French building materials maker Cie. de Saint-Gobain is considering a potential acquisition of GCP Applied Technologies Inc.
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Saint-Gobain is looking into a deal for the U.S. company that makes specialty construction chemicals, according to the people. GCP Applied could attract takeover interest from other rivals, including RPM International Inc., the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
The shares of GCP Applied have gained 14% this year, giving it a market value of $2 billion. The shares, which rose by as much as 25% Wednesday, were up 16% to $27.03 at 3: 39 p.m. in New York trading.
The Activist investor Starboard Value, which owns about 9% of GCP Applied, succeeded in a push to revamp the company's board last year.
The dealmaking in the industry is attracting interest, and the company is attracting interest. Sika AG agreed in November to acquire MBCC Group, the former construction chemicals unit of BASF SE, for 5.5 billion Swiss francs $6 billion. The deal was built on Sika s 2019 purchase of mortars business Parex Group for 2.5 billion francs.
In the year 2019 GCP Applied conducted a strategic review but didn't find a buyer. According to Bloomberg, Standard Industries Inc. is the largest shareholder of GCP Applied with a 17% stake.
The people said that the acquisition of GCP Applied would build on its recent acquisition of Chryso, a French construction chemicals business, for 1 billion euros $1.1 billion. Other suitors could also emerge for GCP Applied, despite the fact that there is no certainty that the deliberations will result in a deal.
A Saint-Gobain representative didn't immediately return a call seeking comment, while spokespeople for GCP and RPM couldn't be reached for comment.
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