Dow Stock Jumps On Takeover Rumor

Dow Chemical's stock price jumped on Monday morning by 7% over its previous close after a British newspaper reported that an investor group is preparing a takeover bid for the company.

The newspaper, the Sunday Express, quoted unnamed sources as saying an investment group including Middle Eastern investors and the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts had secured $50 billion for a bid ranging from $52 to $58 per share.

Dow's stock reached $47.60 per share early Monday morning after closing at $44.47 on Thursday, April 5. The stock market was closed on Good Friday. The same paper printed a similar rumor in late February that caused the firm???s stock price to jump almost 9%.

Dow says it doesn't comment on market rumors. However, speaking last month at an investor conference organized by BB&T Capital Markets, Dow CEO Andrew N. Liveris took a swipe at any rumor that appears "on the third page of a third-rate newspaper in the U.K." Liveris asked investors to "please give us more credit for sophistication than that."

Pointing to more than 60 deals in the works, Liveris acknowledged that his company is active in seeking partners for joint ventures and other transactions. But Dow is not looking to open up stock value with some single blockbuster deal, Liveris stressed. The company doesn't need "a big bang answer," he said.