Renewi 's board of directors rejected the Macquarie fund's offer of GBX 775 per share, a valuation of £636 million. The share price soared in London, gaining 35% to GBX 689. It even climbed to GBX 730.

"The proposal offers Renewi shareholders a compelling opportunity to realize their cash investment at a very significant premium and an attractive multiple," stressed the suitor, who called on the company's management to sit down at the negotiating table. Renewi has traded between GBX 176.60 and GBX 1210 over the past ten years. The three-year high is GBX 855.

A small cosmopolitan recycler

Renewi is a small group specializing in waste recycling, with most of its business in the Benelux countries, where its roots give it a market share of around 30%. In the late 1990s, when it was still called Shanks, the British company began to feel cramped on its island. It then set its sights on the Belgian and Dutch markets via several acquisitions. The latest and largest, Van Gansewinkel Groep, was finalized in 2016 for 482 million euros. Renewi is the result of the merger consummated in 2017 between the two groups, which chose London as their main trading place, in the opposite direction to the usual tax relocations.