RARE ALERT: Fagron said to have drawn interest from Cinven et al

I've been in two minds about writing on the Fagron auction. That's because there have been a lot of unsubstantiated (and possibly false) rumours going around the European markets in the last couple of weeks and as a result the stock has been volatile.

For readers unfamiliar with Fagron, it's a listed Belgian company that provides ingredients for pharmacies and hospitals. The business said last month that it had hired JP Morgan to carry out a strategic review after receiving several takeover approaches.

I think, though, I might have managed to ascertain at least one "new", important fact: that
Cinven, the UK-based private equity firm, is looking at purchasing the company and participating in the strategic review being carried out by JP Morgan.

Beyond this, the situation gets a bit more hazy. As in, it's not clear whether Cinven will win the auction as there are rumoured to be other private equity firms, such as Nordic outfit EQT Partners, competing for the company.

And it's also not clear what price Cinven or any other PE firm is willing to pay, with rumours the ultimate take-out price could be anything between EURO 27 and EURO 30.

Now to be clear, some of the above information is extremely RARE whilst other bits aren't RARE at all. For readers unfamiliar with RARE, here is the definition:

Market gossip that hasn't been tested through formal journalistic channels (public relations executives, bankers etc). The rumour might be total codswallop but then again there may be something in it, so it's worth airing on Betaville.

Cinven declined to comment. Fagron didn't return calls for comment.