(Bloomberg) -- French building materials maker Cie. de Saint-Gobain is among suitors considering a potential acquisition of GCP Applied Technologies Inc., people familiar with the matter said.
Saint-Gobain has been studying a deal for the U.S. company, which makes specialty construction chemicals, the people said. GCP Applied could also attract takeover interest from other rivals including RPM International Inc., the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Shares of GCP Applied jumped as much as 25% Wednesday before closing up 14% in New York trading giving the company a market valuation of about $2 billion. Saint-Gobain fell 1.2% at 12:15 p.m. in Paris.
Activist investor Starboard Value, which owns about 9% of GCP Applied, succeeded last year in a push to revamp the company's board.
The company is attracting interest as dealmaking in the industry heats up. Sika AG agreed in November to acquire MBCC Group, the former construction chemicals unit of BASF SE, for 5.5 billion Swiss francs ($6 billion). That deal built on Sika's 2019 purchase of mortars business Parex Group for 2.5 billion francs.
GCP Applied conducted a strategic review in 2019 but failed to find a buyer. Standard Industries Inc. is GCP Applied's largest shareholder with a 17% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
For Saint-Gobain, an acquisition of GCP Applied would build on its recent purchase of Chryso, a French construction chemicals business, for 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion). Other suitors could also emerge for GCP Applied, and there's no certainty the deliberations will result in a deal, the people said.
Saint-Gobain earlier this month said it would invest more than $400 million in the U.S. in the next four years to expand roofing, insulation and gypsum production capacities in four locations.
A representative for Saint-Gobain declined to comment, while spokespeople for GCP and RPM couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
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