Shares of Corporate Express NV jumped the most in almost four years Monday after Centaurus Capital Ltd. bought a stake, spurring speculation the U.K. hedge fund may press the world’s biggest office-supplies distributor to sell assets.
London-based Centaurus, which last year demanded that Royal Ahold NV sell its U.S. supermarkets, said in a Saturday regulatory filing that it held 5.02 percent of the voting rights for Amsterdam, Netherlands-based Corporate Express.
Corporate Express, formerly known as Buhrmann, last month reported a 35 percent slump in first-quarter profit after its North American competitors held down prices and U.S. job cuts hurt sales. The Dutch company gets more than half its revenue from the U.S., where chief executive Frans Koffrie has said the market is declining.
“The chances are rising that Corporate Express will become subject to corporate action,” Philip Scholte, an analyst at Rabo Securities in Amsterdam, wrote in a note. “We believe Corporate Express’s North American and European activities are interesting merger candidates.”
The stock surged 1.02 euros, or 11 percent, to 10.47 euros in Amsterdam, the biggest gain since June 27, 2003.
