PolyPeptide Shares Surge Amid Takeover Interest From EQT, KKR

(Bloomberg) — PolyPeptide Group AG shares hit the highest level in more than three years, after people with knowledge of the matter said the Swiss contract drugmaker is attracting private equity takeover interest.

Shares of PolyPeptide jumped as much as 16% in early trading Monday, the biggest intraday gain since November 2024. They were up 10% at 10:46 a.m. in Zurich, giving the company a market value of about 1.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.5 billion) and putting it on track to close at the highest level since December 2022.

EQT AB, KKR & Co. and Advent are among suitors that have been studying a potential acquisition of PolyPeptide, people with knowledge of the matter said last week. Any buyout firm pursuing a take-private deal could seek to team up with its billionaire controlling shareholder, Swedish businessman Frederik Paulsen Jr., according to the people.

Royal Bank of Canada wrote in a research report Monday that a leveraged buyout of PolyPeptide at a 30% premium to its undisturbed share price could still offer a roughly 25% to 35% internal rate of return for a private equity buyer.

Paulsen may not want to sell his stake at the current price, given the stock is “recovering well” from a difficult period in 2022-2024, RBC analysts including Charles Weston said in the report. “Any PE acquirer may seek a joint-ownership model,” they wrote.

PolyPeptide specializes in the development and manufacturing of synthetic peptides related to metabolism, notably targeting obesity and diabetes. The biotech has been going through a turnaround which was welcomed by investors and is ramping up new facilities. It operates sites in Europe, the US and India.

–With assistance from Eyk Henning, Swetha Gopinath, Jan-Henrik Förster and Lisa Pham.

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