Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Inc. has confirmed it is considering making an offer for waste management firm Augean PLC (LON:AUG).
Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, an investment arm of the US bank, said there was no certainty that the discussions will result in a proposal nor did it specify potential terms.
READ: Vectura deal suggests private equity takeover pipeline remains healthy
AIM-listed Augean has a market capitalisation of £299mln based on Wednesday’s closing price.
The group, founded in 2004, has seen its shares climb 45% so far this year.
If it goes ahead, it would be yet another UK public company ending in private hands, with Spire Healthcare PLC (LON:SPI) and Vectura Group PLC (LON:VEC) being the latest ones to recommend takeovers earlier this week.
Private equity-backed mergers & acquisitions since the start of last year have reached £37bn, based on data from Dealogic shared with the Daily Mail, for a total of 124 deals.
Augean climbed 19% to 296.1p on Thursday morning.