A Chinese private equity firm is weighing up a takeover bid of local honey exporter Comvita, according to overseas media reports.
File photo: Mānuka honey. Photo: 123rf
Bloomberg is reporting that the investment arm of China Resources Holdings Co, CR Capital Management, is in talks with bankers about funding the potential offer.
Comvita's shares jumped more than 7 percent on the news and was subsequently placed into a trading halt.
In a statement, the Mānuka honey exporter said that it had not been approached with an offer, nor was it in any discussion with any parties regarding a takeover offer.
The halt was lifted shortly before the final hour of trading and Comvita's shares gave up some of its earlier gains.
CR Capital Management already owns about 6.6 percent of Comvita, which had a market capitalisation of $220 million based on its current share price.
The company was founded in 1974 and develops and exports Mānuka honey products to a number of overseas countries.
Its biggest market is China, followed by Australia and New Zealand.
Bloomberg said if CR Capital succeeded in taking Comvita private it would relist the company in another location, possibly Hong Kong, in two to three years.