<p>German plastics maker Covestro rejected a report on Friday that it was in takeover talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management.</p>.<p>Shares in the blue-chip company were trading up 6.1 per cent by 0723 GMT, having risen as much as 11 per cent in pre-market trade following a <em>Bloomberg</em> report that Apollo was exploring a takeover.</p>.<p>"We are not in takeover talks with Apollo," spokesman Lars Boelke said. "We are regularly in talks with various market participants about strategic opportunities."</p>.<p>Apollo could not immediately be reached for comment.</p>.<p>Shares in Covestro, which was spun out from Bayer in 2015, have shed more than half of their value since hitting a peak in February 2018.</p>.<p>It had a market value of 8.14 billion euros ($9.64 billion) as of Thursday's market close, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.</p>.<p>The company told Reuters last month it was on track for better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter as stay-at-home workers' appetite to upgrade their mobile devices and furniture drives demand for the company's materials. </p>
<p>German plastics maker Covestro rejected a report on Friday that it was in takeover talks with private equity firm Apollo Global Management.</p>.<p>Shares in the blue-chip company were trading up 6.1 per cent by 0723 GMT, having risen as much as 11 per cent in pre-market trade following a <em>Bloomberg</em> report that Apollo was exploring a takeover.</p>.<p>"We are not in takeover talks with Apollo," spokesman Lars Boelke said. "We are regularly in talks with various market participants about strategic opportunities."</p>.<p>Apollo could not immediately be reached for comment.</p>.<p>Shares in Covestro, which was spun out from Bayer in 2015, have shed more than half of their value since hitting a peak in February 2018.</p>.<p>It had a market value of 8.14 billion euros ($9.64 billion) as of Thursday's market close, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.</p>.<p>The company told Reuters last month it was on track for better-than-expected earnings in the third quarter as stay-at-home workers' appetite to upgrade their mobile devices and furniture drives demand for the company's materials. </p>