Shares in Ocado Group soared more than 40% on Thursday after The Times published “speculation of bidding interest from more than one US buyer”.
Mike Camp | Image | Getty Images
Shares of the UK online grocer Ocado Group After surging more than 40% on Thursday era The newspaper reported that “more than one American buyer was interested in bidding”.
The report suggests that big tech companies may be weighing their options for Ocado, picking amazon as a potential stakeholder.
When contacted by CNBC, Ocado and Amazon declined to comment.
Shares of Ocado jumped as much as 43% on the news before paring gains. The London-listed shares were last up around 35%.
Ocado licenses grocery delivery technology, which is used by the company’s retail arm to deliver food, drink and household items to more than 800,000 customers in the UK, according to the company website.
Ocado sells its own branded merchandise as well as Marks & Spencer product. Shares in Marks and Spencer were up 3% in afternoon trading in London.
Ocado has thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic as Britons in lockdown turned to online grocery deliveries, but the company’s shares have since fallen, with the London Stock Exchange subsidiary FTSE Russell suggested in may it might quit FTSE 100 common.
In February, the company reported a pre-tax loss of 501 million pounds ($652 million) for the year to November 2022, missing analysts’ expectations.
Ocado attributed its losses to customers abandoning the pandemic’s big-basket shopping habits, pressure from the cost-of-living crisis and inflationary pressures, and increased marketing spending.
the report has been circulated Ocado’s expansion plans were put on hold in December before the company announced in April that it would close its oldest automated warehouse in Hatfield, north London.