(This Jan. 24 story has been corrected to change the name of the stakeholder to Franklin Mutual Advisers, from Franklin Mutual Advisors, in paragraph 8)
By Amy-Jo Crowley and Emma-Victoria Farr
LONDON (Reuters) - KPS Capital Partners recently explored a bid for UK specialty chemicals maker Elementis (LON:ELM) but has since paused its work, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The New York-based private equity firm in December submitted an offer valuing the FTSE 250 company at about 160p per share, but the Elementis board wanted around 180p, one of the people said.
Spokespeople for Elementis and KPS declined to comment.
Shares in Elementis, which makes a range of chemical and personal care products, rose by as much as 10.5% in early trading in London on Thursday.
By 0847 GMT, they were up 8.1% at 134 pence, making them the biggest percentage gainer on the FTSE 350 index. Elementis closed at 125 pence on Wednesday, giving it a market value of 735 million pounds.
Elementis has already rebuffed other takeover bids, in 2020 from US-based Mineral Technologies and in 2021 from Nasdaq-listed Innospec.
It follows disappointment from shareholders in Elementis in recent months over the firm’s performance.
New Jersey-based Franklin Mutual Advisers, which has an about 9.2% stake in Elementis, in September urged the board to find a buyer for the company.
It criticised the company’s "stagnant" share price and recent "value destructive acquisitions", which it said had undermined confidence in management's ability to drive growth.
Odyssean Capital, which has an about 3.1% stake, and Schroders (LON:SDR) Investment Management, which owns about 3.8%, backed the request to put the company up for sale, The Times reported.
Elementis rebuffed the calls saying that an immediate sale of the chemicals group was not ideal given the "substantial value still to be realised."
In its latest trading update, Elementis said it expects adjusted operating profit to be between $102-104 million for 2023, up from $100.5 million a year earlier. It added it remains focused on achieving an operating margin of above 19% by 2026 and its target of below 1.5 times net debt and core profit.